SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases New Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,224 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in GSK during the 1st quarter worth $80,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in GSK by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 241,367 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,514,000 after acquiring an additional 5,518 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in GSK during the 1st quarter worth $467,000. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in GSK by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 37,192 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in GSK by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 62,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GSK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Guggenheim upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on GSK in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE GSK opened at $39.28 on Friday. GSK plc has a one year low of $33.33 and a one year high of $43.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $41.94 and its 200-day moving average is $38.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 51.45%. The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. Equities research analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.3564 dividend. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 52.82%.

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.