GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Acquired by Bell Bank

Bell Bank grew its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,602 shares during the period. Bell Bank’s holdings in GSK were worth $6,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,693 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $682,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 332 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $636,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 7,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GSK shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $36.62 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.36. The company has a market cap of $75.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.64. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. Analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.08%.

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.