Independent Advisor Alliance Decreases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Independent Advisor Alliance decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 69,318 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,321 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $117.76 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly 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 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.