Costello Asset Management INC Takes $31,000 Position in GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK)

Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 800 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of GSK by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 68,440,912 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,314,672,000 after acquiring an additional 353,749 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of GSK by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,566,922 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $255,914,000 after purchasing an additional 35,134 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its position in shares of GSK by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,838,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $205,920,000 after purchasing an additional 874,004 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its position in shares of GSK by 5.3% in the first quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 4,174,189 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $161,708,000 after purchasing an additional 211,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,755,193 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $93,181,000 after purchasing an additional 419,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $36.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.51. GSK PLC Sponsored ADR has a twelve month low of $31.72 and a twelve month high of $44.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.11. GSK had a return on equity of 49.22% and a net margin of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that GSK PLC Sponsored ADR will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.4206 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSK has been the topic of several research reports. Berenberg Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 target price for the company. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded GSK to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.38.

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.