Haleon (NYSE:HLN) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $9.57, but opened at $9.37. Haleon shares last traded at $9.38, with a volume of 726,683 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HLN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded Haleon from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Haleon from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $10.95.

Haleon Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $9.54 and a 200 day moving average of $9.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Haleon had a return on equity of 14.76% and a net margin of 10.85%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Haleon plc will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Haleon

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HLN. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Haleon during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in Haleon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Haleon by 2,029.1% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 3,348 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Haleon by 3,470.0% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 3,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Haleon during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 6.67% of the company’s stock.

Haleon Company Profile

Haleon plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, and sale of various consumer healthcare products in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company provides oral health products, such as toothpastes, mouth washes, and denture care products under the Sensodyne, Polident, Parodontax, Biotene brands; and vitamins, minerals, and supplements under Centrum, Emergen-C, Caltrate brands.