Buffington Mohr McNeal Sells 1,744 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Buffington Mohr McNeal trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,684 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,744 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.3% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Insight Folios Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $129.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.26 and a 200-day moving average of $113.46. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $129.76. 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 company has a market cap of $224.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.