Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Sells 1,624 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lessened its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 18.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,128 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,624 shares during the quarter. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp’s holdings in GSK were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GSK. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in GSK by 2.0% during the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,693 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $682,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in GSK by 6.3% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 10,403 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Finally, Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in GSK by 5.4% during the third quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 7,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $38.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $80.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.25 and a 200-day moving average of $37.20.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. Equities research analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.05%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.74%.

GSK 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.