Short Interest in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Increases By 18.3%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,320,000 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the December 15th total of 12,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,443,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average of $114.93 and a 200 day moving average of $112.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Insight Folios Inc raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,488,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.