Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Reik & CO. LLC

Reik & CO. LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,494 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Reik & CO. LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after buying an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:ABT opened at $125.67 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.92 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $132.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.78. The stock has a market cap of $218.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 32.43%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.47.

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.