CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 12,116 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 98,166 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 12,116 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $9,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 100,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,691,756. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Weiss Ratings raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $109.38 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $132.02. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.45.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.03%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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. Its established pharmaceuticals business sells branded generic medicines in markets outside the United States.