Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,566,922 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 35,134 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.37% of GSK worth $255,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in GSK by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 11,506 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 14,009 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 10,403 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in GSK by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in GSK by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 7,756 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GSK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on GSK in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $35.25 target price for the company. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.58.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK traded up $1.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.13. 8,255,475 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,730,762. GSK plc has a 12-month low of $31.72 and a 12-month high of $45.93. The company has a market cap of $80.73 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. On average, analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.3932 dividend. This is an increase from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. GSK's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.63%.

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.