Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Up 1%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares traded up 1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $105.42 and last traded at $104.95. Approximately 1,336,511 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 5,797,951 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.70.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $103.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value 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. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,222,332,000 after buying an additional 701,740 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,764,000. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $28,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,932,000. 75.18% of the stock is 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.