Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Short Interest Up 18.3% in December

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 14,320,000 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the December 15th total of 12,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $113.45. The company had a trading volume of 6,443,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. 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 $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,065 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,288,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,734 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 2,392 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $271,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,093 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,327,000 after purchasing an additional 4,393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True North Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 265.7% in the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 29,062 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,287,000 after purchasing an additional 21,115 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ABT shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.