Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Northwest Bancshares Inc.

Northwest Bancshares Inc. cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,225 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.2 %

ABT opened at $117.10 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $115.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.70. The company has a market cap of $203.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $98.95 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price 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. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

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.