Buffington Mohr McNeal Cuts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Buffington Mohr McNeal decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 73,428 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 6,088 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.4% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,371,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $117.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.10 billion, a PE ratio of 36.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $91.64 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $113.76 and a 200 day moving average of $108.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.