GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Short Interest Up 7.1% in September

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,690,000 shares, a growth of 7.1% from the August 31st total of 10,910,000 shares. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,610,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GSK shares. UBS Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Argus raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

GSK Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of GSK opened at $40.30 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. GSK has a 12-month low of $33.67 and a 12-month high of $45.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $41.60 and its 200 day moving average is $41.57. The company has a market capitalization of $83.52 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a return on equity of 51.48% and a net margin of 12.87%. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. Research analysts expect that GSK will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $0.3843 dividend. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 54.71%.

Insider Activity at GSK

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of GSK in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,487,000. Clifford Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in GSK by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 358,291 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,794,000 after acquiring an additional 63,033 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in GSK by 172.2% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,103 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963 shares during the period. Lazari Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in GSK by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,970 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $769,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in GSK during the 2nd quarter valued at $11,181,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

About GSK

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.