Ellenbecker Investment Group Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ellenbecker Investment Group lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,068 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 506 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,248 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,305 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 199,683 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,766,000 after buying an additional 10,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 123,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $14,083,000 after buying an additional 3,046 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $118.22 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $91.64 and a 1 year high of $121.64. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.47. The company has a market capitalization of $205.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.