GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Position Decreased by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,082 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 7,719 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in GSK were worth $5,719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in GSK by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,786,475,000 after acquiring an additional 23,814,104 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 70.1% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $854,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,836,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $637,061,000 after purchasing an additional 259,867 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its stake in GSK by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,838,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $205,920,000 after buying an additional 874,004 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 4,153,616 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $140,475,000 after buying an additional 446,568 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $35.25 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut GSK from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.58.

GSK Stock Performance

GSK traded up $0.55 on Friday, hitting $35.92. 4,812,738 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,642,413. GSK plc has a twelve month low of $31.72 and a twelve month high of $45.93. The firm has a market cap of $74.10 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.14.

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, research analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is an increase from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. GSK's payout ratio is 100.63%.

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.