American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 41,189 Shares of Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Haleon plc (NYSE:HLN - Free Report) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 719,890 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,189 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Haleon were worth $6,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Haleon in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,193,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in Haleon in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,628,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Haleon by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,152,490 shares of the company's stock worth $96,833,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046,841 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Haleon by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,084,202 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Haleon by 29.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,071,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,758,000 after purchasing an additional 475,934 shares during the last quarter. 6.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Haleon Stock Performance

NYSE HLN traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,279,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,787,212. Haleon plc has a 52 week low of $7.99 and a 52 week high of $10.80. The firm has a market cap of $42.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $10.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Haleon (NYSE:HLN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Haleon had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 14.76%. The business had revenue of $3.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Haleon plc will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Haleon Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, April 25th will be paid a $0.1166 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 25th. This is a boost from Haleon's previous -- dividend of $0.05. Haleon's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HLN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "hold" rating on shares of Haleon in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Haleon from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley cut Haleon from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Haleon from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Haleon in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.95.

Haleon 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.