Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Short Interest Update

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,310,000 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the January 31st total of 18,240,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $1.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $136.23. 2,678,318 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,620,523. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $236.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $124.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.53.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,282 shares of company stock worth $3,263,348 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.