West Family Investments Inc. Makes New $236,000 Investment in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

West Family Investments Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,780 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in GSK during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in shares of GSK by 231.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 783 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of GSK during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, PrairieView Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK in the second quarter valued at about $47,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at GSK

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,205,528. The trade was a 19.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $33.46 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 has a market capitalization of $69.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.66. GSK plc has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $45.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.54.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.3928 dividend. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 99.35%.

About GSK

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.