LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 602,885 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,519 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in GSK were worth $20,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in GSK by 9.7% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 604,973 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $24,731,000 after acquiring an additional 53,440 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. bought a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth about $4,731,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,033,000. Kempner Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 107,648 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of GSK by 30.8% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $144,803,000 after buying an additional 833,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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GSK Price Performance

GSK stock traded down $2.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.82. The company had a trading volume of 5,387,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,509,080. The company has a market capitalization of $76.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. 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 $45.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors 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 4.27%. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. GSK's dividend payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

GSK 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.