JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 70.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 370,815 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 900,251 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in GSK were worth $15,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in GSK by 8.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after buying an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of GSK by 4.9% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $759,425,000 after acquiring an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,747,000 after acquiring an additional 51,378 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 61.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,728,000 after acquiring an additional 165,556 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of GSK by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,460,000 after purchasing an additional 83,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $33.08 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.19. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.56 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3928 per share. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

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.