Short Interest in Utah Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:UTMD) Increases By 16.6%

Utah Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:UTMD) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 64,500 shares, an increase of 16.6% from the November 15th total of 55,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 22,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Utah Medical Products Stock Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:UTMD opened at $62.95 on Tuesday. Utah Medical Products has a twelve month low of $62.62 and a twelve month high of $87.00. The stock has a market cap of $213.40 million, a P/E ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 0.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.75.

Utah Medical Products Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.305 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.22 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Utah Medical Products’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Utah Medical Products’s payout ratio is presently 28.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut Utah Medical Products from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

Institutional Trading of Utah Medical Products

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Utah Medical Products by 5.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 170,310 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $11,378,000 after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Utah Medical Products by 66.2% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 116,524 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $7,789,000 after acquiring an additional 46,427 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Utah Medical Products by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 97,080 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $6,497,000 after buying an additional 8,516 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Utah Medical Products by 128.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 89,010 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,956,000 after acquiring an additional 50,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rice Hall James & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Utah Medical Products by 24.3% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 83,338 shares of the medical instruments supplier’s stock valued at $5,576,000 after purchasing an additional 16,297 shares in the last quarter. 69.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Utah Medical Products

Utah Medical Products, Inc develops, manufactures, and distributes medical devices for the healthcare industry worldwide. It offers fetal monitoring accessories, vacuum-assisted delivery systems, and other labor and delivery tools; DISPOSA-HOOD infant respiratory hoods; and DELTRAN PLUS blood pressure monitoring systems.