Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Down 0.8%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $111.79 and last traded at $112.72. 537,151 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average session volume of 5,749,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $113.64.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $195.13 billion, a PE ratio of 35.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $112.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.19.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its 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 return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’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 transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.