40,000 Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Sold by Canal Insurance CO

Canal Insurance CO lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 44.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.2% of Canal Insurance CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Canal Insurance CO’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,843,610,000 after buying an additional 6,769,518 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,343,246,000 after buying an additional 1,350,766 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $1,603,607,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,706,669 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,515,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,082,524,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of ABT stock traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $102.44. The company had a trading volume of 4,496,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,228,539. The company has a market cap of $177.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $132.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.30.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.88.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.