Peoples Bank OH Sells 120 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Peoples Bank OH reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Peoples Bank OH’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $415,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $551,434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,077,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457,847 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $101.64. 5,802,459 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,656,838. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.18 and a 200 day moving average of $109.85. The stock has a market cap of $176.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.18.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.