Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Lowers Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 346,293 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 13,874 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in GSK were worth $11,712,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GSK. FMR LLC raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $759,425,000 after buying an additional 870,449 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $16,747,000 after acquiring an additional 51,378 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in GSK by 61.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $17,728,000 after acquiring an additional 165,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 20.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $20,460,000 after acquiring an additional 83,433 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GSK Stock Performance

GSK traded down $0.34 during trading on Friday, reaching $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 current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $31.72 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $34.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. As a group, research 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. This is a positive change from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GSK. StockNews.com raised GSK from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.25.

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.