Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC

Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,892 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,277 shares during the period. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.1% during the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 95,077 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares during the last quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% in the first quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 40,817 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,639,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.4% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,224 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 16,378 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 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 owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $117.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.60 and a 200-day moving average of $108.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.96 billion, a PE ratio of 36.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $91.25 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of 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 reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday. Finally, Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.54.

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.