D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $4.20 Million Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

D.A. Davidson & CO. cut its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 102,655 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in GSK were worth $4,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,185,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 4.9% during 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. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 61.8% during 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. Natixis Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $20,460,000 after acquiring an additional 83,433 shares during the period. Finally, Nwam LLC bought a new stake in GSK in the 3rd quarter valued at $625,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE GSK opened at $34.33 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.09. GSK plc has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $45.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.3928 dividend. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GSK

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. The trade was a 19.97 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Argus upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.