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

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares were down 0.3% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $117.37 and last traded at $117.44. Approximately 726,296 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 5,705,569 shares. The stock had previously closed at $117.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.3 %

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’s 50-day moving average is $113.97 and its 200-day moving average is $108.52. The company has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BDF Gestion bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $5,634,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 18,131 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 14,215 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.