Fifth Third Bancorp Reduces Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Fifth Third Bancorp cut its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK – Get Rating) by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,241 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,950 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in GSK were worth $360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in GSK during the first quarter valued at about $80,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 2.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 241,367 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,514,000 after buying an additional 5,518 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GSK in the first quarter worth about $467,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 3.0% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 37,192 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,620,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 2.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 62,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,744,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. 13.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GSK Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $34.74 on Wednesday. GSK plc has a one year low of $28.47 and a one year high of $46.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.26, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.66.

GSK (NYSE:GSK – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 2nd. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.19. GSK had a net margin of 37.88% and a return on equity of 32.18%. The business had revenue of $9.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.75 billion. As a group, analysts expect that GSK plc will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 18th will be issued a $0.3695 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 17th. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 15.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GSK. Bank of America downgraded shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 5th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of GSK from GBX 1,975 ($24.06) to GBX 1,550 ($18.88) in a report on Friday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of GSK from GBX 1,650 ($20.10) to GBX 1,535 ($18.70) in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. Oddo Bhf upgraded shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 29th. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GSK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $1,583.57.

GSK Company Profile

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GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare.