Meridian Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,255 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,381 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,255 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of GSK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its position in shares of GSK by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

NYSE:GSK opened at $38.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.20. The company has a market cap of $80.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $31.72 and a 52-week high of $45.92.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s payout ratio 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.