Independent Advisor Alliance Cuts Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,086 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in GSK were worth $617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after purchasing an additional 870,449 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 342,365 shares during the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. boosted its stake in GSK by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $161,623,000 after purchasing an additional 66,765 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in GSK by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,496,254 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $142,927,000 after purchasing an additional 63,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 30.9% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,347,993 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $90,398,000 after purchasing an additional 554,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $34.32 on Thursday. GSK plc has a one year low of $32.83 and a one year high of $45.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.56 and its 200 day moving average is $40.13. The stock has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.3928 dividend. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 99.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at $134,205,528. This trade represents a 19.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GSK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Barclays raised GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Argus raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Company 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.