Short Interest in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Increases By 5.6%

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABT. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $97.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.68. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $93.25 and a twelve month high of $124.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $10.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.69 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 26.09% and a net margin of 15.88%. The company’s revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth approximately $131,000. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $96,257,000 after purchasing an additional 15,521 shares during the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% during the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. 72.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Abbott Laboratories

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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.