Bailard Inc. Reduces Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Bailard Inc. reduced its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,051 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,567 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in GSK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in GSK by 195.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in GSK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $38.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.92. 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 (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GSK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

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.