Ballentine Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Ballentine Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,081 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,680 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its stake in GSK by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 24,831 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc raised its position in shares of GSK by 315.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 2,845 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,160 shares during the last quarter. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in GSK in the 1st quarter worth approximately $299,000. Sanders Morris Harris LLC grew its position in GSK by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 13,360 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $573,000 after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in GSK by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 65,751 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after purchasing an additional 5,105 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GSK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK traded up $0.26 during trading on Monday, hitting $40.74. 444,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,532,397. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.12. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $33.67 and a 52-week high of $45.92. The company has a market cap of $84.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.66.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. As a group, equities analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.3762 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.26%.

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.