GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Short Interest Down 11.4% in September

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) was the target of a large drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,360,000 shares, a drop of 11.4% from the September 15th total of 11,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,820,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 0.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of GSK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in GSK during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in GSK during the second quarter worth $37,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. PrairieView Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GSK traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,971,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,725,458. GSK has a 12 month low of $33.67 and a 12 month high of $45.92. The firm has a market cap of $80.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 51.48% and a net margin of 12.87%. As a group, analysts predict that GSK will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.3843 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.