Blue Trust Inc. Sells 4,750 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 44.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,970 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,750 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in GSK during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in GSK during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in GSK by 195.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $36.54 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.49 and a 200 day moving average of $37.38. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.92. The firm has a market cap of $75.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. On average, research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.3932 dividend. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.08%.

GSK Company Profile

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D.