Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Short Interest Up 22.3% in February

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,310,000 shares, a growth of 22.3% from the January 31st total of 18,240,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 25,282 shares of company stock worth $3,263,348. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $1.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $136.56. 3,007,164 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,457,241. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $124.05 and its 200-day moving average is $118.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.

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