Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 49,252 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 654,181 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 49,252 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $67,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ABT opened at $113.86 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a 50 day moving average of $107.87 and a 200-day moving average of $108.73. The company has a market cap of $198.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect 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%.

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.