abrdn plc Makes New $1.55 Million Investment in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

abrdn plc bought a new stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 41,852 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,551,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 6.9% during the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,346 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 1.5% in the third quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory now owns 21,391 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in GSK by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its stake in GSK by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 3,961 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in GSK by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 134,584 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,879,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

GSK Trading Up 1.3 %

GSK opened at $41.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market cap of $86.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.64. GSK plc has a 52 week low of $33.33 and a 52 week high of $43.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.01.

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

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a $0.3564 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 52.82%.

About GSK

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.