Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Takes Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,456 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GSK. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of GSK by 8.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,185,885,000 after buying an additional 2,224,345 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in GSK by 4.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $759,425,000 after acquiring an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of GSK by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,853,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $607,222,000 after purchasing an additional 342,365 shares during the period. Provident Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of GSK by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $161,623,000 after purchasing an additional 66,765 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of GSK by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $144,803,000 after purchasing an additional 833,080 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Trading Up 1.2 %

GSK stock traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.59. 4,368,337 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,624,072. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $34.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.41.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company 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 represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK's dividend payout ratio is 93.08%.

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.