Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 752 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.0% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 33,796,869 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,500,920,000 after buying an additional 3,344,508 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5,663.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,212,035 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $364,696,000 after buying an additional 8,069,557 shares during the period. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.5% in the first quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 7,406,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $328,911,000 after buying an additional 881,235 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 45.3% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,528,788 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $289,943,000 after buying an additional 2,035,170 shares during the period. Finally, Thomaspartners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the first quarter. Thomaspartners Inc. now owns 5,099,993 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $226,491,000 after buying an additional 475,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.86% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) traded up 1.02% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.38. The company had a trading volume of 871,225 shares. The company has a market capitalization of $85.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.16 and a beta of 1.07. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $37.38 and a one year high of $51.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $49.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.06.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 14.43% and a net margin of 4.96%. The business had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.63 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post $2.49 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 14th were paid a dividend of $0.265 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 12th. This represents a $1.06 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 149.30%.
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A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Zacks Investment Research raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. TheStreet cut Abbott Laboratories from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. BidaskClub raised Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 17th. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Group LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $52.14.
In other Abbott Laboratories news, insider Stephen R. Fussell sold 196,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.00, for a total transaction of $9,041,300.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 221,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,188,448. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jared Watkin sold 552 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.97, for a total value of $26,479.44. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,090 shares in the company, valued at $2,258,907.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 415,252 shares of company stock worth $19,878,958. Company insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.
About Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a range of healthcare products. The Company operates through four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products and Vascular Products. Its Established Pharmaceutical Products include a range of branded generic pharmaceuticals manufactured around the world and marketed and sold outside the United States.
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