Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $259,000 in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,982 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 233,571 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,656,000 after purchasing an additional 12,443 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of GSK by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 4,833 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $179,000 after acquiring an additional 661 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in shares of GSK by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 325,676 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $12,069,000 after purchasing an additional 31,566 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of GSK by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $558,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its stake in GSK by 81.6% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 24,050 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 10,804 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on GSK. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Citigroup raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.50. 4,048,068 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,498,257. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $33.33 and a 52-week high of $43.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.14.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 51.54% and a net margin of 14.62%. On average, research analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.3762 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

GSK Company 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.