MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,660 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,199 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.6% of MOKAN Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,075,481,000 after acquiring an additional 739,260 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,118,903,000 after purchasing an additional 795,073 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during 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 buying an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction 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 represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 3.7%

ABT stock opened at $138.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $240.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.