Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by First Bancorp Inc ME

First Bancorp Inc ME reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,747 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 952 shares during the period. First Bancorp Inc ME’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $310,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 80,955 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,840,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $87,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 102,882 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,964,000 after purchasing an additional 22,674 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendel Money Management increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 2,535 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,344,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,682,427. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.17. The firm has a market cap of $182.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

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.