Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC

Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 11,103 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 808 shares during the quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,548,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,390 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,922,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,092,133,000 after buying an additional 228,039 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $114.61 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $112.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.18. The stock has a market cap of $199.38 billion, a PE ratio of 35.70, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.