Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) CEO Robert B. Ford Sells 141,679 Shares

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

ABT stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $116.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,324,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,827,383. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $108.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.74. The stock has a market cap of $202.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,548,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,390 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,115,836,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.80.

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.

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