Bailard Inc. Trims Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Bailard Inc. reduced its stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,051 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,567 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in GSK by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,510 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,973,000 after purchasing an additional 56,843 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of GSK in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in GSK by 15.9% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,173 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 85,923 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,513,000 after purchasing an additional 3,380 shares during the period. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its stake in shares of GSK by 3.8% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 40,944 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,674,000 after buying an additional 1,512 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GSK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

GSK stock opened at $38.46 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $79.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.16 and a 200-day moving average of $37.18. GSK plc has a 12-month low of $31.72 and a 12-month high of $45.92.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. As a group, equities analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.74%.

About GSK

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.