Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s stock price fell 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $117.37 and last traded at $117.44. 726,296 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 5,705,569 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.40.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.