Whittier Trust Co. Buys 21,826 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 133.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,150 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,826 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in GSK were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in GSK by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $854,349,000 after acquiring an additional 10,407,905 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,185,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,345 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its stake in GSK by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,838,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $205,920,000 after purchasing an additional 874,004 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 4.9% during the third 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. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in GSK by 30.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $144,803,000 after buying an additional 833,080 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GSK. StockNews.com upgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $39.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market cap of $81.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $36.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.97. GSK plc has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.93.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

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.