Bard Financial Services Inc. Acquires 21,950 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 38.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 79,095 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,950 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $2,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of GSK in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 231.8% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 783 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in GSK during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

GSK Price Performance

GSK traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $34.02. The stock had a trading volume of 2,200,021 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,340,002. The company has a market cap of $70.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.75 and a 200 day moving average of $38.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.3928 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 98.70%.

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.