AlphaCentric Advisors LLC Purchases 19,000 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 31.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares during the period. GSK accounts for 2.0% of AlphaCentric Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $2,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,476,432 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $550,651,000 after purchasing an additional 515,951 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in GSK by 74.6% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,044,350 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $493,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,998,831 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 4.2% during the first quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,253,504 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $471,560,000 after acquiring an additional 532,918 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of GSK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,619,494 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $408,309,000 after acquiring an additional 434,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of GSK by 48.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,113,039 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $309,844,000 after buying an additional 2,316,204 shares during the period. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. HSBC started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Friday, July 14th. They set a “reduce” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, GSK has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $1,527.50.

GSK Price Performance

NYSE:GSK traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.72. 1,332,014 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,272,619. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.31. The company has a market cap of $71.09 billion, a PE ratio of 4.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.68. GSK plc has a 12-month low of $28.47 and a 12-month high of $39.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 26th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $8.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.49 billion. GSK had a net margin of 50.26% and a return on equity of 55.93%. On average, analysts expect that GSK plc will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be paid a $0.3613 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $1.45 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.10%.

About GSK

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development and manufacture of vaccines and specialty medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare.