First City Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

First City Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 18.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,708 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,991 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. PrairieView Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK during the second quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in GSK in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $40.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $84.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.69. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $33.67 and a 1 year high of $45.92.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a return on equity of 51.48% and a net margin of 12.87%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors 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. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. GSK’s payout ratio is 54.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

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.