Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock: Insider Mary Moreland Sells 3,500 Shares

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $406,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 100,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,691,756. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 3.2%

ABT stock opened at $110.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $190.38 billion, a PE ratio of 41.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.78. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $132.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The firm had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 94.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised 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. Weiss Ratings raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two equities research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.32.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Cornerstone Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 6,596 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the third quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC now owns 13,173 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hamel Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the third quarter. Hamel Associates Inc. now owns 30,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,009,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. 10Elms LLP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.1% during the third quarter. 10Elms LLP now owns 672 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,212,308 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $218,642,000 after purchasing an additional 28,787 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.