Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 844,039 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 107,529 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in GSK were worth $28,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 8.3% in the 3rd 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 boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 870,449 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $16,747,000 after purchasing an additional 51,378 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $17,728,000 after purchasing an additional 165,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $20,460,000 after purchasing an additional 83,433 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GSK. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, GSK currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $36.52. The stock had a trading volume of 2,787,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,569,229. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.41. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.3932 dividend. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. GSK's payout ratio is currently 93.08%.

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.