GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Sold by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas lowered its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 43.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,136 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 72,575 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in GSK were worth $3,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. Brucke Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter valued at about $465,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in GSK during the fourth quarter worth $462,000. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in GSK by 167.9% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,397 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 8,396 shares in the last quarter. Michels Family Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter valued at $377,000. Finally, Formidable Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of GSK by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC now owns 6,942 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. Wall Street Zen lowered GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of GSK to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $35.25 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.38.

GSK Stock Performance

GSK stock traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.03. The stock had a trading volume of 7,371,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,872,127. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.15. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $31.72 and a 52-week high of $45.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $84.65 billion, a PE ratio of 25.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. The business had revenue of $10.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that GSK plc 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4216 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This is a positive change from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.