Altrius Capital Management Inc Buys 17,578 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 216,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 17,578 shares during the quarter. GSK accounts for approximately 2.0% of Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in GSK were worth $7,305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GSK. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in GSK by 470.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 992 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC now owns 62,531 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,115,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 116,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,948,000 after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,962,581 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $134,014,000 after buying an additional 466,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in GSK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE:GSK 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. The stock 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 plc has a 12-month low of $31.72 and a 12-month high of $45.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders 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 represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.21%. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 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.