Dodge & Cox Lowers Position in Haleon PLC Sponsored ADR $HLN

Key Points

• Dodge & Cox has reduced its stake in Haleon PLC by 5.4%, owning approximately 3.75% after selling 9,593,990 shares, which are now valued at about $1.74 billion.
• Haleon has received several upgrades from analysts, including a "strong buy" rating from BNP Paribas and an "overweight" rating from Morgan Stanley, while the consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $12.33.
• The company has announced an increase in its semi-annual dividend to $0.0555, with a payout ratio of 28.21%, set to be paid on September 18th.

Dodge & Cox lowered its holdings in Haleon PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:HLN - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,150,936 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,593,990 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox owned approximately 3.75% of Haleon worth $1,740,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HLN. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Haleon by 135.9% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,491 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Haleon during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Haleon by 267.8% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,126 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,276 shares during the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Haleon by 152.4% during the 1st quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 4,753 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Haleon during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 6.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on HLN. Morgan Stanley upgraded Haleon from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $11.25 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded Haleon to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Haleon in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Haleon from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Haleon from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $13.40 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Haleon currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.33.

Haleon Price Performance

Shares of HLN stock opened at $9.8050 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.23. Haleon PLC Sponsored ADR has a fifty-two week low of $8.86 and a fifty-two week high of $11.42. The business's 50 day moving average price is $9.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Haleon Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $0.0555 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a dividend yield of 190.0%. This is an increase from Haleon's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.05. Haleon's dividend payout ratio is 28.21%.

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.

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