GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,350,000 shares, a growth of 52.2% from the March 31st total of 4,830,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,510,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Currently, 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd increased its position in shares of GSK by 71.3% in the first quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $909,063,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800,822 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,281,000. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 670.5% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,196,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $81,384,000 after buying an additional 1,911,000 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $558,330,000 after buying an additional 1,465,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. lifted its stake in GSK by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,716,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,297,385 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on GSK shares. Guggenheim raised shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GSK presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Price Performance

GSK traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.11. The stock had a trading volume of 2,730,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,904,690. The company has a market cap of $85.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.64. GSK has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $43.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $41.83 and a 200 day moving average of $38.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.79 billion. GSK had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 51.45%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that GSK will post 4.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.3564 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 52.82%.

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.