Washington Trust Bank Sells 723 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Washington Trust Bank cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,407 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 723 shares during the period. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,707,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fullcircle Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Fullcircle Wealth LLC now owns 13,721 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.8% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,121 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,669,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 8,527 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after buying an additional 1,271 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 42,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,594,000 after acquiring an additional 2,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,637,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $747,779,000 after acquiring an additional 866,314 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $133.70 on Monday. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.52. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.61.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate 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.