Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price Down 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s share price traded down 1.1% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $114.70 and last traded at $115.26. 912,690 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 5,699,912 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $114.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.67. The company has a market capitalization of $198.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 12,304 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the third quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 11,796 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 64,367 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,339,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 218.2% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,848 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 8,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 49.9% during the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 17,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 5,756 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.