Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 35,134 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,566,922 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,134 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in GSK were worth $255,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GSK. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its holdings in GSK by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in GSK by 470.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 992 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

GSK stock opened at $37.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $77.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $31.72 and a 1 year high of $45.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.05.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. GSK’s payout ratio is 100.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on GSK shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.