Advisory Alpha LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Advisory Alpha LLC trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,922 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 167 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $113.58 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.15. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

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.