Cravens & Co Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Cravens & Co Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 10.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,459 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 881 shares during the quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of GSK by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after purchasing an additional 870,449 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 61.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,728,000 after buying an additional 165,556 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 20.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,460,000 after acquiring an additional 83,433 shares during the period. Nwam LLC bought a new stake in shares of GSK in the 3rd quarter worth about $625,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,510 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,973,000 after purchasing an additional 56,843 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Argus upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $34.02 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.17. The firm has a market cap of $70.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $32.83 and a 12 month high of $45.92.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.3928 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.62%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 99.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. This trade represents a 19.97 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

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.