Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 21,310 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 112,823 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 21,310 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 84.5% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 32,123 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,651,000 after buying an additional 14,715 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 52,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,936,000 after acquiring an additional 16,300 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 29,272 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,327,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.5% in the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 12,944 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $115.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $201.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $97.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.53 and a 200-day moving average of $109.52.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm 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 13.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

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.