Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. Buys 253,320 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 404.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 315,933 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 253,320 shares during the period. GSK accounts for 1.9% of Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.’s holdings in GSK were worth $10,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GSK. FMR LLC raised its holdings in GSK by 8.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,185,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $759,425,000 after purchasing an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in GSK by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,853,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $607,222,000 after buying an additional 342,365 shares in the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp raised its position in shares of GSK by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,962,581 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $134,014,000 after buying an additional 466,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of GSK by 1.7% during the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $161,623,000 after acquiring an additional 66,765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $37.33 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.30. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $31.72 and a 52-week high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.3932 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 98.74%.

About GSK

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.