Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price Down 1.7% – What’s Next?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s stock price traded down 1.7% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $116.76 and last traded at $117.32. Approximately 2,920,616 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 49% from the average daily volume of 5,718,240 shares. The stock had previously closed at $119.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.56. The stock has a market cap of $203.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $249,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.