GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Sold by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,292 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 7.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 25,785 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 20.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,460,000 after buying an additional 83,433 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 3.4% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 53,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,181,000 after buying an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 1.8% in the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,496,254 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $142,927,000 after buying an additional 63,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 12.1% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 246,614 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,086,000 after buying an additional 26,707 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $40.30 on Tuesday. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $31.72 and a 1 year high of $45.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.99. The stock has a market cap of $83.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. Equities research analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.3932 dividend. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 98.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.