Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Short Interest Down 10.8% in December

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,100,000 shares, a drop of 10.8% from the November 30th total of 13,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Syntax Research Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $2,280,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,710,023 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $194,960,000 after buying an additional 109,500 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 26,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $648,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $269,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.11. 3,519,617 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,594,505. The company’s fifty day moving average is $115.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.07. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $196.18 billion, a PE ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.73%.

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.