Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Gap Down to $105.24

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $105.24, but opened at $100.59. Abbott Laboratories shares last traded at $101.00, with a volume of 2,533,297 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.70.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.9 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $177.76 billion, a PE ratio of 31.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $103.86 and its 200 day moving average is $109.22.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,115,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after buying an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $415,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. 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.