GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Acquired by Horizon Investments LLC

Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,206 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 455 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its position in GSK by 8.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after buying an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in GSK by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $854,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in GSK by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,836,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $637,061,000 after purchasing an additional 259,867 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in GSK by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,838,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $205,920,000 after purchasing an additional 874,004 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp lifted its holdings in GSK by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,962,581 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $134,014,000 after purchasing an additional 466,327 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, GSK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $39.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $81.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $36.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.93.

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, 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. GSK’s payout ratio is 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.