Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Increases Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,233 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 417 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $75,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in GSK by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in GSK by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $854,349,000 after acquiring an additional 10,407,905 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $637,061,000 after acquiring an additional 259,867 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased 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 worth $205,920,000 after acquiring an additional 874,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp increased 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 worth $134,014,000 after acquiring an additional 466,327 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK opened at $39.22 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $81.18 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. 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 50-day moving average price of $36.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.87. GSK plc has a 12-month low of $31.72 and a 12-month high of $45.93.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (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, equities analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.74%.

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.