Essex Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 41.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,234 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,116 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd increased its stake in GSK by 71.3% during the 1st quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $909,063,000 after buying an additional 8,800,822 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,281,000. Armistice Capital LLC raised its stake in GSK by 670.5% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,196,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $81,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,000 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lifted its holdings in GSK by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,510,840 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $236,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,036,881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $557,267,000 after purchasing an additional 1,436,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GSK shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Citigroup upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Argus raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

GSK Stock Down 1.1 %

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

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $0.3843 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 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.