Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 170,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,739 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $19,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 110.1% during the third quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,551,000 after buying an additional 16,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at $2,160,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $116.59 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $92.43 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.22 billion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.19.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

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.