Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt Sells 22,852 Shares

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of ABT traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $104.94. 6,149,178 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,560,422. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.85. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $182.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven 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 target price of $121.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $415,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742,912 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $551,434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,671 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,077,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,847 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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