Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Trading Down 0.2%

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s stock price traded down 0.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $115.43 and last traded at $116.18. 702,037 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 5,821,558 shares. The stock had previously closed at $116.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

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 has a 50-day moving average of $108.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.69. The company has a market capitalization of $202.75 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $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.