Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) Short Interest Update

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) saw a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a drop of 21.2% from the February 28th total of 2,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 732,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Koninklijke Philips Price Performance

NYSE PHG opened at $25.65 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.55. Koninklijke Philips has a 52 week low of $19.10 and a 52 week high of $32.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.53, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.78.

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The technology company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.01). Koninklijke Philips had a positive return on equity of 10.85% and a negative net margin of 3.88%. The business had revenue of $5.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.10 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Koninklijke Philips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.886 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a yield of 2.9%. Koninklijke Philips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -89.29%.

Institutional Trading of Koninklijke Philips

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 55,290 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after buying an additional 11,538 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Koninklijke Philips by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 60,112 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,967,000 after acquiring an additional 8,625 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Koninklijke Philips by 0.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,138,708 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $200,859,000 after purchasing an additional 35,935 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Koninklijke Philips in the third quarter worth approximately $564,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 22.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,057 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 3,629 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PHG shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Koninklijke Philips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Koninklijke Philips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Koninklijke Philips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Koninklijke Philips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Koninklijke Philips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Koninklijke Philips Company Profile

Koninklijke Philips N.V. operates as a health technology company in North America, the Greater China, and internationally. The company operates through Diagnosis & Treatment Businesses, Connected Care Businesses, and Personal Health Businesses segments. It also provides diagnostic imaging solutions, includes magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray systems, and computed tomography (CT) systems and software comprising detector-based spectral CT solutions, as well as molecular and hybrid imaging solutions for nuclear medicine; echography solutions focused on diagnosis, treatment planning and guidance for cardiology, general imaging, obstetrics/gynecology, and point-of-care applications; integrated interventional systems, and interventional diagnostic and therapeutic devices to treat coronary artery and peripheral vascular disease.