SPC Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SPC Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 19,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 131 shares during the quarter. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 9,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. 9258 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,553 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the period. Team Hewins LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 10,487 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 18,731 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.18.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $1.12 during trading on Thursday, reaching $104.17. 5,025,283 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,659,196. The stock has a market cap of $181.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.12 and a 200 day moving average of $109.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.