Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt Sells 91,167 Shares

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded down $4.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $132.57. 9,313,490 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,544,743. The company has a market cap of $229.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $125.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.99.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $19,075,481,000 after purchasing an additional 739,260 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $6,118,903,000 after acquiring an additional 795,073 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after acquiring an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.