Ballentine Partners LLC Acquires 3,056 Shares of GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) by 17.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,206 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,056 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in GSK during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. First Pacific Financial acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the 1st quarter worth about $45,000. CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the 1st quarter worth about $51,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. BNP Paribas assumed 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. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.38.

GSK Stock Down 3.3%

Shares of GSK opened at $38.29 on Monday. GSK PLC Sponsored ADR has a 52 week low of $31.72 and a 52 week high of $44.67. The firm has a market cap of $78.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.87.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.05. GSK had a net margin of 9.89% and a return on equity of 48.82%. The business had revenue of $10.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. GSK’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that GSK PLC Sponsored ADR will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $0.4216 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.69 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 88.14%.

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.