Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by ST Germain D J Co. Inc.

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,017 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 313 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,372,735 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $384,525,000 after purchasing an additional 220,777 shares during the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 31,244 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,562,000 after buying an additional 994 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 38,695 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,021,000 after acquiring an additional 9,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the third quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,776,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $119.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $91.64 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $113.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.50.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

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.