Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Takes Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,735 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co increased its stake in GSK by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 470.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 992 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas started coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded GSK to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.58.

GSK Trading Up 2.0%

GSK stock opened at $39.44 on Wednesday. GSK plc has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.06. 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 company has a market capitalization of $81.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released 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 company had revenue of $10.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4216 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.60%.

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.