Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Increases Stock Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,900 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,950 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in GSK were worth $1,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. FMR LLC raised its stake in GSK by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,185,885,000 after buying an additional 2,224,345 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 4.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after acquiring an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 14.3% in the third quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,747,000 after acquiring an additional 51,378 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in GSK by 61.8% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,728,000 after purchasing an additional 165,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of GSK by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 604,973 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,731,000 after purchasing an additional 53,440 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Down 2.1 %

NYSE GSK opened at $39.53 on Thursday. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market cap of $81.81 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $36.42 and its 200 day moving average is $36.98.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. Research analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GSK shares. StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

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.