Central Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,211 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $404,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 264.0% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,969 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 4,329 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $249,000. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 9,845 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 117.4% in the 1st quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 4,453 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $506,000 after buying an additional 2,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $117.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $115.03 and its 200 day moving average is $108.95. The company has a market capitalization of $204.06 billion, a PE ratio of 35.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $92.43 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

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.