GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Holdings Cut by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas lowered its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 43.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 95,136 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 72,575 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in GSK were worth $3,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,786,475,000 after buying an additional 23,814,104 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $854,349,000 after buying an additional 10,407,905 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 1,360.4% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,165,043 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $73,222,000 after buying an additional 2,016,795 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 132.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,247,691 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $76,017,000 after buying an additional 1,281,855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,665,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Price Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $38.70 on Tuesday. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.84 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.04.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $10.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.4216 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. GSK’s payout ratio is 86.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GSK. Wall Street Zen raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.58.

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.