Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the quarter. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABT. Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $1.13 during trading on Thursday, reaching $115.67. The company had a trading volume of 439,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,692,712. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $92.43 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $115.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.08. The stock has a market cap of $200.62 billion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.