Altshuler Shaham Ltd Makes New $1.93 Million Investment in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 57,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,928,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Grimes & Company Inc. bought a new position in GSK in the 4th quarter valued at $4,731,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth about $4,033,000. Kempner Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in GSK by 142.7% in the 4th quarter. Kempner Capital Management Inc. now owns 183,080 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,192,000 after buying an additional 107,648 shares during the period. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in GSK by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 217,200 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,346,000 after buying an additional 7,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp purchased a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,957,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GSK Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $35.38 on Thursday. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. 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 results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 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%. Equities research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.3932 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 100.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GSK. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.58.

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.