Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Invests $201,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,760 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 1st 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 grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.77 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $92.43 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.