41,852 Shares in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Acquired by abrdn plc

abrdn plc bought a new position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 41,852 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,551,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in GSK by 7.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,099,513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $656,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,291,161 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in GSK by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 12,058,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $437,130,000 after purchasing an additional 287,000 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in GSK by 5.1% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,079,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $292,896,000 after purchasing an additional 389,871 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in GSK by 2.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,551,555 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $273,744,000 after purchasing an additional 156,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp grew its stake in GSK by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,277,362 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $118,804,000 after buying an additional 90,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GSK. Jefferies Financial Group raised GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $41.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $33.33 and a 1-year high of $43.84. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $41.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.01.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 51.45%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. Equities analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.3564 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.82%.

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.