Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Buys 59,976 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 3,998.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,476 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 59,976 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GSK. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 2.0% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,693 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in GSK by 6.3% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 2.3% during the third quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 5.4% during the third quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 7,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Guggenheim cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GSK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE:GSK opened at $37.04 on Friday. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $31.72 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.55 and a 200-day moving average of $37.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 93.08%.

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.