Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Short Interest Down 19.9% in June

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,620,000 shares, a decrease of 19.9% from the May 31st total of 14,500,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HM Payson & Co. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 417,557 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $47,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $3,116,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15.1% during the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 27,967 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares during the last quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the first quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 21,121 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,401,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 6,717 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Citigroup dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.91. The company had a trading volume of 8,283,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,748,477. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.12. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.