Americana Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Americana Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 74.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,302 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 43,635 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in GSK were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in GSK by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 20,141 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 2,423 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in GSK by 175.0% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,859 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 5,001 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in GSK in the 4th quarter worth about $4,033,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in GSK by 28.4% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 20,703 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK stock traded down $0.34 on Friday, hitting $36.62. 5,644,657 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,666,008. 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 has a market capitalization of $75.91 billion, a PE ratio of 23.03, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.64. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $31.72 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.38.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.3932 dividend. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. This is a positive change from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. GSK's dividend payout ratio is currently 93.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on GSK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.25.

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.