Grassi Investment Management Sells 704 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Grassi Investment Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 124,577 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.2% of Grassi Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

ABT stock opened at $116.99 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.62. The firm has a market cap of $203.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.45, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $91.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.