Capital Investment Counsel LLC Trims Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Capital Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,403 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 15,779 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $117.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

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.