Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

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

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $103.20 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

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.