Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,701 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 897 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,126,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $310,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 80,955 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,840,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $87,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.3% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 102,882 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,964,000 after purchasing an additional 22,674 shares during the period. Finally, Mendel Money Management grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 2,535 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $104.87. 5,406,193 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,699,324. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.89 and a 200 day moving average of $110.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories 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.