Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by New Covenant Trust Company N.A.

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,615 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 117 shares during the quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position 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 worth $6,118,903,000 after buying an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 765,636 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $133.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.16. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $231.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.61.

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.