Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) EVP Sells 3,500 Shares of Company Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 100,791 shares in the company, valued at $11,691,756. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.2%

ABT stock traded down $3.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $110.02. 8,345,115 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,184,693. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.38 billion, a PE ratio of 41.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.54. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 9.75%. The business had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 94.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $118.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Argus cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,603,607,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $1,082,524,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $902,938,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $732,788,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,843,610,000 after buying an additional 6,769,518 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, diagnostic tests, nutritional products and branded generic medicines. Its products serve patients and healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics and other care settings.

Abbott’s offerings include the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system, cardiovascular and other medical devices, laboratory and rapid diagnostic tests, and nutrition brands such as Ensure and Similac.