F M Investments LLC Acquires 7,078 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

F M Investments LLC lifted its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 18.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 45,514 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,078 shares during the period. F M Investments LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $1,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co increased its stake in GSK by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in GSK in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in GSK by 195.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in GSK by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $34.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $71.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.52 and a 200 day moving average of $36.25. GSK plc has a 52 week low of $31.72 and a 52 week 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 the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.3932 dividend. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.