Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Invests $692,000 in GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 17,857 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in shares of GSK by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 89,038 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of GSK by 28.0% during the 1st quarter. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. now owns 404,433 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $15,668,000 after purchasing an additional 88,500 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 82.5% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,480 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 138.4% during the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,646,791 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $63,797,000 after acquiring an additional 955,891 shares during the period. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company's stock.

GSK Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of GSK stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.26. 3,002,585 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,939,201. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $39.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.11. The stock has a market cap of $78.33 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.50. GSK PLC Sponsored ADR has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $44.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $10.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. GSK had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 48.82%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK PLC Sponsored ADR will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is an increase from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GSK. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of GSK to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, 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 target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $37.38.

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.