Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) saw a significant 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 trading volume of 732,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koninklijke Philips

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PHG. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in Koninklijke Philips by 724.0% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 1,409 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Koninklijke Philips in the third quarter worth $54,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Koninklijke Philips in the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Koninklijke Philips Stock Performance

Shares of PHG stock traded down $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $24.87. 691,165 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 870,069. The company has a market capitalization of $23.38 billion, a PE ratio of -29.61, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.78. Koninklijke Philips has a 1-year low of $19.25 and a 1-year high of $32.91. The company’s fifty day moving average is $26.69 and its 200 day moving average is $27.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

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

Koninklijke Philips Cuts Dividend

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

About Koninklijke Philips

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.