Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 94,457 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,133 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.5% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8 %

ABT traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $115.92. 165,655 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,691,445. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $92.43 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $115.20 and a 200 day moving average of $109.08. The firm has a market cap of $201.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.