Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Short Interest Update

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 13,930,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the February 13th total of 13,190,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.67.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,779,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,992,874. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.89. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $93.25 and a 12-month high of $124.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.47 billion, a PE ratio of 25.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 26.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total transaction of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,222,103.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total transaction of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,222,103.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $68,375.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,091,998.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after buying an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 339.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,581,157 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $443,273,000 after buying an additional 3,537,778 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $582,924,000 after buying an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. 72.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.