First Foundation Advisors Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Foundation Advisors trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,453 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 387 shares during the quarter. First Foundation Advisors’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI cut their target price 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, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.0 %

ABT stock traded up $1.96 during midday trading 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 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $177.49 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $103.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.