Employees Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lessened its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 43.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 95,136 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 72,575 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in GSK were worth $3,217,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. United Bank grew its position in shares of GSK by 7.3% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 25,785 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in GSK by 13.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,971,000 after buying an additional 14,687 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in GSK by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 604,973 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,731,000 after buying an additional 53,440 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in GSK by 46.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 20,024 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $819,000 after acquiring an additional 6,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,605 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GSK Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of GSK opened at $34.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.62 and a 200 day moving average of $36.46. The company has a market cap of $72.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $31.72 and a 52-week high of $45.93.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its earnings results 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GSK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.