Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,071 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,238 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Wormser Freres Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $126.16 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.81, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $103.55 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The business’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

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.