Banco Santander S.A. Has $1.47 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Banco Santander S.A. trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 91.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,971 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 130,926 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CCLA Investment Management boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the first quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 791,824 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $89,996,000 after purchasing an additional 6,107 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.8% during the first quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 10,079 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Garrison Point Advisors LLC now owns 2,348 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Windsor Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.3% during the first quarter. Windsor Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% in the 1st quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,531 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’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 directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of ABT stock traded up $1.96 on Friday, hitting $102.03. The stock had a trading volume of 11,963,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,038,934. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $177.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $103.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.47.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective 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 objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.18.

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.