Strengthening Families & Communities LLC Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,082 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during 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 $115.90 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $97.64 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $201.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $115.53 and a 200-day moving average of $109.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

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.