Wellington Management Group LLP Increases Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,094,105 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 190,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP owned about 0.10% of GSK worth $70,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 0.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,786,475,000 after purchasing an additional 23,814,104 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 70.1% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $854,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,836,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $637,061,000 after purchasing an additional 259,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in GSK by 0.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 35,134 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $41.43. 1,875,297 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,865,371. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $85.47 billion, a PE ratio of 26.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $44.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $37.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.17.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $0.4216 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This is an increase from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.