Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 52,224 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 478,740 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 52,224 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $16,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of GSK by 470.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 992 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $37.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.97. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.80. The company has a market capitalization of $77.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. The company had revenue of $10.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.4216 dividend. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 86.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GSK. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded GSK to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.