Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Down 0.1%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares fell 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $114.52 and last traded at $114.82. 1,393,637 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 5,787,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.60. 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 capitalization of $197.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $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.