Short Interest in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Increases By 59.7%

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,550,000 shares, a growth of 59.7% from the September 30th total of 10,360,000 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at GSK

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

Institutional Trading of GSK

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keystone Financial Planning Inc. bought a new stake in GSK during the 3rd quarter valued at $248,000. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of GSK by 13.6% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 11,814 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of GSK by 1.3% during the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 66,001 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after purchasing an additional 833 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in GSK by 12.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 236,770 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,679,000 after purchasing an additional 25,781 shares during the period. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in GSK by 1,429.4% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,426 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 27,502 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GSK Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE GSK opened at $37.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. GSK has a one year low of $33.67 and a one year high of $45.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that GSK will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.3843 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on GSK. Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Four equities 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 MarketBeat, the company has an average 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.