Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Has $19.17 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,150 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,053 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.5% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $19,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after buying an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $249,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,996,320 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value 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 approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.3 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $119.39 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $91.64 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.