John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Acquires 12,160 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 15.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,740 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,160 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $3,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of GSK by 2,816.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 700 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of GSK during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 271.8% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 885 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,090 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Up 1.2 %

GSK stock traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,590,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,478,990. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $33.33 and a 52-week high of $43.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced 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). GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.79 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.3564 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 52.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GSK shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on GSK in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Citigroup upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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.