Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,210 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 261 shares during the quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 118,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,347,000 after acquiring an additional 4,166 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,477,000. Lmcg Investments LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.6% in the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 176,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,348,000 after acquiring an additional 32,504 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,927 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,447,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 58,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ABT opened at $112.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.67. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.73%.

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.