VeraBank N.A. Lowers Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

VeraBank N.A. reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,702 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. VeraBank N.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares in the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 16,717 shares during the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC increased 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 valued at $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.5% during the first 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. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.4% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,598 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 948 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE ABT traded up $1.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $116.59. The company had a trading volume of 5,685,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,410,446. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $115.32 and its 200 day moving average is $109.20. The company has a market capitalization of $202.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $92.43 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. UBS Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

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.