Fluent Financial LLC Sells 462 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fluent Financial LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,986 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 462 shares during the quarter. Fluent Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boltwood Capital Management raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,045 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the second quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the second quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $112.64. The stock had a trading volume of 4,366,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,757,640. The firm has a market cap of $195.95 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.22.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.