GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Short Interest Up 5.8% in June

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw a large growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,400,000 shares, a growth of 5.8% from the May 31st total of 7,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Old Port Advisors raised its position in GSK by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 65,399 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 20.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the first quarter worth about $215,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in GSK by 114.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 62,998 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,701,000 after acquiring an additional 33,642 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 300.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 281,168 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $12,054,000 after purchasing an additional 210,971 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $38.44 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.26. GSK has a twelve month low of $33.67 and a twelve month high of $45.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $79.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. On average, equities analysts predict that GSK will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.3762 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.26%.

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.