D.A. Davidson & CO. Trims Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

D.A. Davidson & CO. reduced its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 20.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,571 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 27,185 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in GSK were worth $4,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in GSK in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in GSK during the second quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in GSK by 69.7% during the first quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,436 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GSK shares. Citigroup raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on GSK in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Berenberg Bank upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, GSK has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

GSK Stock Performance

GSK opened at $43.44 on Wednesday. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The stock has a market cap of $90.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $0.3843 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 54.71%.

GSK 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.