Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Veracity Capital LLC

Veracity Capital LLC cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,403 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 103 shares during the quarter. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $119.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $207.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.