Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Acquires 6,610 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,854 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,610 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 76.5% during the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,254 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,166,000 after purchasing an additional 4,445 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 175,537 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,952,000 after acquiring an additional 16,717 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 20,542 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,099 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,598 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,568,000 after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $116.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $202.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $92.43 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.19.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

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.