GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Sold by Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 49.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,759 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,735 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $60,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of GSK by 9.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 604,973 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,731,000 after acquiring an additional 53,440 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. purchased a new stake in GSK during the 4th quarter worth $4,731,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter valued at $4,033,000. Kempner Capital Management Inc. raised its position in GSK by 142.7% in the fourth quarter. Kempner Capital Management Inc. now owns 183,080 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,192,000 after purchasing an additional 107,648 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 30.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $144,803,000 after purchasing an additional 833,080 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GSK shares. StockNews.com upgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:GSK opened at $38.74 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $80.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK plc has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.93. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.69.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced 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 predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. This is an increase 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 is 98.74%.

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.