Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Down 0.5%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares traded down 0.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $113.46 and last traded at $114.29. 837,057 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 5,806,779 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.41. The firm has a market cap of $197.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

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

About Abbott Laboratories

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.