14,456 Shares in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Bought by Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 14,456 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co increased its stake in shares of GSK by 200.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of GSK in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its stake in GSK by 195.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in GSK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on GSK shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on GSK in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

GSK opened at $36.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.35 and a 200 day moving average of $37.50. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $31.72 and a 52-week high of $45.92. The stock has a market cap of $75.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.