Woodline Partners LP Purchases Shares of 1,084,130 GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,084,130 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $36,665,000. Woodline Partners LP owned 0.05% of GSK as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 82.1% during the 4th 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 lifted 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 purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of GSK by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,247,691 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $76,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,855 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of GSK by 68.2% during the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 2,237,034 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $75,656,000 after buying an additional 907,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kahn Brothers Group Inc. bought a new position in GSK in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,921,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

GSK Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of GSK stock traded down $0.23 on Monday, hitting $38.70. 3,666,936 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,836,207. The company has a fifty day moving average of $37.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.02. GSK plc has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.01. The company has a market capitalization of $79.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.34, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $10.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4216 per share. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK's dividend payout ratio is 86.60%.

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.