Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,458 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 7,129 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 0.8% of Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $134.57. 2,094,295 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,135,398. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $133.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $234.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories 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.