GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Bought by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 81.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,050 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,804 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in GSK were worth $891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of GSK. KCS Wealth Advisory lifted its position in GSK by 1.5% in the third quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory now owns 21,391 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $775,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 3,961 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 12,433 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $461,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simmons Bank grew its holdings in GSK by 0.3% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 134,584 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,879,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GSK shares. Citigroup raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Stock Up 0.4 %

GSK stock opened at $43.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.09. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $33.33 and a 12 month high of $43.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.17 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.65.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.79 billion. Equities analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.3762 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.61%.

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.