Koninklijke Philips N.V. (NYSE:PHG) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Koninklijke Philips N.V. (NYSE:PHG) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,882,419 shares, an increase of 55.9% from the July 15th total of 1,848,446 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,647,504 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Koninklijke Philips in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Koninklijke Philips from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Koninklijke Philips from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Koninklijke Philips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Koninklijke Philips Stock Performance

Shares of PHG opened at $27.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.69. Koninklijke Philips has a 52-week low of $23.85 and a 52-week high of $33.44.

Koninklijke Philips (NYSE:PHG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The technology company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $4.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.91 billion. Koninklijke Philips had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 14.38%. Koninklijke Philips’s revenue was down 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Koninklijke Philips will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Koninklijke Philips

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PHG. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Koninklijke Philips by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,841,880 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $76,958,000 after buying an additional 282,661 shares in the last quarter. Moore Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Koninklijke Philips in the fourth quarter worth about $5,727,000. Morningstar Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Koninklijke Philips in the third quarter worth about $5,434,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Koninklijke Philips by 435.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 225,616 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,410,000 after acquiring an additional 183,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Koninklijke Philips by 98.1% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 340,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $9,278,000 after acquiring an additional 168,514 shares during the last quarter. 13.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Koninklijke Philips

Koninklijke Philips N.V. (NYSE: PHG), commonly known as Philips, is a Dutch multinational company focused on health technology. Founded in Eindhoven in 1891, the company evolved from a diversified electronics manufacturer into a specialist in healthcare products, systems and services. Philips is legally registered in the Netherlands and operates globally, supplying equipment and solutions to hospitals, clinics, healthcare providers and consumers across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Philips’ principal activities center on medical technologies and personal health.