Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD Takes $11.58 Million Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Kranot Hishtalmut Le Morim Ve Gananot Havera Menahelet LTD bought a new stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 336,615 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,584,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GSK. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its position in GSK by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in GSK during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in GSK by 195.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in GSK by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in GSK during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $39.47 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $81.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.72 and a 200-day moving average of $37.10. GSK plc has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.93.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.3932 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. 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 3.98%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 98.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Seven investment 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

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.