CENTRAL TRUST Co Sells 3,822 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,116 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,822 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $19,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 18,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,388,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.8% during the first quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,649 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.7% during the first quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 323,577 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $42,922,000 after purchasing an additional 46,194 shares during the period. Edge Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the first quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, Lesa Sroufe & Co acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $357,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.2%

ABT stock opened at $133.99 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $131.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.58. The company has a market cap of $233.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.61.

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.