Greystone Financial Group LLC Buys 15,293 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Greystone Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 18.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 99,323 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 15,293 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 2.0% of Greystone Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. One Wealth Management Investment & Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,313 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.1% during the second quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 183,003 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,016,000 after purchasing an additional 13,694 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.2% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $358,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. SFE Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. SFE Investment Counsel now owns 69,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,262,000 after acquiring an additional 5,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 359,676 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,372,000 after buying an additional 56,167 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced 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, Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $113.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,802,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,855,512. The company has a market capitalization of $198.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $107.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.79. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 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.