GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Position Reduced by Lazari Capital Management Inc.

Lazari Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,546 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. Lazari Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in GSK during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in GSK during the second quarter valued at $37,000. PrairieView Partners LLC acquired a new position in GSK during the second quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in GSK in the 2nd quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Argus upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

GSK Stock Down 0.4 %

GSK stock opened at $38.00 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.21. The company has a market capitalization of $78.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a return on equity of 51.48% and a net margin of 12.87%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $0.3843 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.80%.

Insider Transactions at GSK

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

GSK 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.