Smith Salley Wealth Management Buys 4,253 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Smith Salley Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,650 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,253 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.3% of Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $19,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional 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 $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of ABT opened at $114.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $91.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $198.70 billion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $114.63 and a 200 day moving average of $108.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.