Morningstar Investment Services LLC Lowers Stock Position in GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC lessened its position in GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 54.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,546 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after selling 65,979 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in GSK were worth $2,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 23,814,104 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 1,360.4% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,165,043 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $73,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,016,795 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,247,691 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $76,017,000 after acquiring an additional 1,281,855 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth $36,665,000. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 138.4% in the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised GSK to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Berenberg Bank reissued a "hold" rating on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $35.25 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, GSK presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.38.

GSK Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of GSK traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $36.28. 6,134,582 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,107,019. GSK PLC Sponsored ADR has a 1 year low of $31.72 and a 1 year high of $44.67. The firm's fifty day moving average is $38.98 and its 200-day moving average is $37.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.50.

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

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.4216 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK's payout ratio is 88.14%.

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.