Abbott Laboratories $ABT Holdings Trimmed by Canal Insurance CO

Canal Insurance CO trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 44.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 40,000 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.2% of Canal Insurance CO’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Canal Insurance CO’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,942,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,603,607,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,082,524,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $902,938,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $732,788,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,843,610,000 after acquiring an additional 6,769,518 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.88.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $1.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $102.44. The stock had a trading volume of 4,496,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,228,539. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.30. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $81.97 and a 12-month high of $132.02. The stock has a market cap of $177.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.55%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.