Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 614,361 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,316 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $70,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,045 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $461,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target 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 investment 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $118.60 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $92.43 and a one year high of $121.64. 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.30%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.