Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) Short Interest Up 18.0% in February

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, an increase of 18.0% from the February 13th total of 2,000,000 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 723,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Koninklijke Philips

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PHG. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Koninklijke Philips by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,932 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 11,401 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 51,331 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,150 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its stake in shares of Koninklijke Philips by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 10,950 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PHG shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Koninklijke Philips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. UBS Group upgraded Koninklijke Philips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Koninklijke Philips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Koninklijke Philips Price Performance

PHG traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $25.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 261,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 766,221. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.78. Koninklijke Philips has a twelve month low of $19.75 and a twelve month high of $32.91.

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) last posted 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 positive return on equity of 10.85% and a negative net margin of 3.88%. The company had revenue of $5.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.10 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Koninklijke Philips Cuts Dividend

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

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.