West Oak Capital LLC Purchases 794 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,349 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 794 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 0.5% of West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 13,246 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $270,000. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the first quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,001 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $202,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 37,340 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,244,000 after purchasing an additional 6,466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ABT opened at $119.39 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $113.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.