Savant Capital LLC Sells 3,259 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Savant Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 108,293 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,259 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.86 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $107.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.07 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

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.