Opinicus Capital Inc. Purchases New Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Opinicus Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,286 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $418,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GSK. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of GSK by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 6,462 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in GSK by 5.6% in the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,098 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $439,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC acquired a new stake in GSK in the third quarter worth $526,000. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in GSK by 7.4% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,400 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 1,466 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in GSK by 14.4% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 221,128 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,016,000 after buying an additional 27,753 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on GSK. Citigroup raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GSK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $41.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,730,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,904,690. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $33.33 and a 12 month high of $43.84. The company has a market capitalization of $85.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.03 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.3564 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.82%.

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.