Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Down 2%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s stock price traded down 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $115.27 and last traded at $115.81. 1,242,051 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 5,783,607 shares. The stock had previously closed at $118.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.56. The company has a market cap of $201.80 billion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.