Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,581 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GSK. abrdn plc acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter worth $1,551,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in GSK by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 88,740 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 12,160 shares during the period. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in GSK by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 234,116 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in GSK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Finally, London & Capital Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of GSK by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd now owns 33,020 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after buying an additional 3,883 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $41.24 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.90. The company has a market capitalization of $85.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.64. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $33.33 and a 1-year high of $43.84. 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 results on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.79 billion. GSK had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 51.45%. Sell-side analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.3564 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 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.