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

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

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.2%

ABT opened at $110.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $190.38 billion, a PE ratio of 41.05, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.54. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $81.97 and a 52 week high of $132.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $104.04 and a 200-day moving average of $101.78.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 9.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. 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 presently 94.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research raised Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. BTIG Research reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,843,610,000 after purchasing an additional 6,769,518 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,343,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350,766 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $1,603,607,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,706,669 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,515,963,000 after buying an additional 2,614,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $1,082,524,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.