Columbia Asset Management Makes New Investment in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Columbia Asset Management acquired a new stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 6,885 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co increased its position in shares of GSK by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of GSK by 195.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in GSK during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK opened at $37.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.41 and its 200-day moving average is $36.62. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.93.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released 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 net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. Equities analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GSK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a research note 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. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.