Short Interest in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Drops By 11.3%

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,270,000 shares, a decrease of 11.3% from the July 15th total of 13,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GSK. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in GSK by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 23,493 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $1,129,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 448.7% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 14,466 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in GSK during the 1st quarter valued at $235,000. Finally, Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in GSK by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 453,795 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,454,000 after purchasing an additional 23,022 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:GSK traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $41.52. 1,833,638 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,571,802. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $86.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.64. GSK has a 52-week low of $33.67 and a 52-week high of $45.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.49.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $0.3843 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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