Palisade Asset Management LLC Has $26.85 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Palisade Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 235,501 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,967 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 2.6% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $26,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. CMG Global Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $207,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 967,938 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $110,355,000 after acquiring an additional 84,693 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 24,902 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,839,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.1% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,768 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,678,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on 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 lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $117.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.58 and its 200-day moving average is $109.88.

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, beating 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 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 business posted $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following 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 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.