Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 89,089 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 305.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 118,233 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 89,089 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in GSK were worth $4,383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in GSK in the 1st quarter worth approximately $80,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of GSK by 2.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 241,367 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $10,514,000 after purchasing an additional 5,518 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in GSK in the first quarter valued at $467,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in GSK by 3.0% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 37,192 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,620,000 after buying an additional 1,094 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in GSK by 2.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 62,991 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,744,000 after buying an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company's stock.

GSK Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GSK traded down $0.35 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.60. 2,765,759 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,518,871. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $42.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.76. The firm has a market cap of $82.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.64. GSK plc has a 12-month low of $33.33 and a 12-month high of $43.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.3564 per share. This is an increase from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GSK. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of GSK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup raised shares of GSK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of GSK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an "equal weight" rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

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.