Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 918,225 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 59,842 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp owned 0.05% of Abbott Laboratories worth $121,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE ABT traded down $1.66 on Friday, reaching $131.95. 4,661,224 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,153,605. The business's fifty day moving average price is $133.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

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.