Balanced Wealth Group LLC Has $435,000 Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,816 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Balanced Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the first quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,451 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $2,688,000. Mission Wealth Management LP increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.4% during the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 15,849 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 303,668 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $31,767,000 after buying an additional 5,817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 610,006 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $69,333,000 after buying an additional 22,907 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.78. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $92.43 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $197.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

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.