National Bank of Canada FI Sells 7,259 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

National Bank of Canada FI lowered its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 67,074 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,259 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in GSK were worth $2,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of GSK in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of GSK by 231.8% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 783 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in GSK during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in GSK during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new position in GSK in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at GSK

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. This represents a 19.97 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upgraded shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Guggenheim lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven equities research 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, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $33.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $70.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.18 and its 200 day moving average is $39.28. GSK plc has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $45.92.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.3928 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 99.35%.

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.