Insider Selling: Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) EVP Sells 3,500 Shares of Company Stock

Key Points

• Abbott EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares for $406,000 at an average price of $116; she retained 100,791 shares after the sale.
• Abbott reported quarterly EPS of $1.42, matching estimates, while revenue rose 14.5% year over year to $13.01 billion.
• Analysts have a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $118.32. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, equivalent to a 2.3% yield.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 100,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,691,756. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded down $3.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $110.02. 8,345,115 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,184,693. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.38 billion, a PE ratio of 41.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.83. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $81.97 and a 52 week high of $132.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 94.03%.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the third quarter. EagleClaw Capital Managment LLC now owns 4,782 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $473,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.0% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 60,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $6,024,000 after purchasing an additional 3,427 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 17,308 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,711,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the third quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC now owns 198,651 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $19,633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 269,783 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $24,480,000 after purchasing an additional 14,018 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $118.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.32.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, diagnostic tests, nutritional products and branded generic medicines. Its products serve patients and healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics and other care settings.

Abbott's offerings include the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system, cardiovascular and other medical devices, laboratory and rapid diagnostic tests, and nutrition brands such as Ensure and Similac.

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