Freedom Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 8.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,718 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,045 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 8.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $759,425,000 after purchasing an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,728,000 after buying an additional 165,556 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 20.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,460,000 after buying an additional 83,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nwam LLC acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the third quarter worth about $625,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $34.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.97. The company has a market capitalization of $70.74 billion, a PE ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.3928 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. 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 dividend yield of 4.60%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 98.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.