Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Stock Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,566,922 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,134 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.37% of GSK worth $255,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in GSK by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,786,475,000 after buying an additional 23,814,104 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position 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 worth $854,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 132.7% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,247,691 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $76,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,855 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its position in shares of GSK by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,838,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $205,920,000 after buying an additional 874,004 shares during the period. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY bought a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth $23,366,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company's stock.

GSK Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of GSK traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.78. 2,102,782 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,740,346. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market cap of $80.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The stock's 50-day moving average is $37.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.04.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $10.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. GSK's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK's payout ratio is 100.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised GSK from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded GSK to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $35.25 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.58.

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.