Covenant Partners LLC Trims Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Covenant Partners LLC reduced its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,415 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,180 shares during the quarter. Covenant Partners LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in GSK by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,078 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $132,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its holdings in GSK by 2.5% in the second quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 11,133 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in GSK by 4.7% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,097 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $245,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. increased its position in GSK by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 14,231 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:GSK traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.52. 3,375,405 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,218,068. GSK plc has a twelve month low of $33.67 and a twelve month high of $45.92. The firm has a market cap of $77.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.14.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. On average, research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.3843 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GSK shares. UBS Group lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Argus upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays upgraded shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,205,528. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.