CENTRAL TRUST Co Has $17.21 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,934 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 10,083 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $17,208,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $116.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $203.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $114.46 and a 200-day moving average of $108.62.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

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.