Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Bank of America Corp DE trimmed its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,982,263 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 278,431 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.10% of GSK worth $67,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in GSK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 68,440,912 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,314,672,000 after purchasing an additional 353,749 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in GSK by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,786,475,000 after acquiring an additional 23,814,104 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in GSK by 70.1% during the fourth 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 raised its holdings in GSK by 1.4% during 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 buying an additional 259,867 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in GSK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,566,922 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $255,914,000 after buying an additional 35,134 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $35.25 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded GSK from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an "equal weight" rating for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded GSK to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, GSK presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.58.

GSK Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of GSK traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.64. The stock had a trading volume of 7,221,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,838,832. The company has a market cap of $77.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $37.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.97. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.80.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. The firm had revenue of $10.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. GSK's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4216 per share. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.48%. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.60%.

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.