Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Down 0.1%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s stock price traded down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $112.10 and last traded at $112.46. 716,630 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 5,798,473 shares. The stock had previously closed at $112.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.2 %

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’s 50-day moving average price is $111.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.39. The firm has a market cap of $195.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.