Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,402 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 519 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,645,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,075,481,000 after buying an additional 739,260 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,118,903,000 after purchasing an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,023,027,000 after buying an additional 765,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 worth $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 8.3%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $120.76 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.38.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.79.

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.