Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Short Interest Update

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the recipient of a significant 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. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

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 value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,282 shares of company stock worth $3,263,348. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Cim LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $136.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,678,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,620,523. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $236.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $124.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.53.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

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.