Dearborn Partners LLC Has $32.57 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Dearborn Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 285,697 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 5,272 shares during the period. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $32,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

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 shares were 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 $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $115.93. 3,829,872 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,687,811. The company has a market cap of $201.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $97.64 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $115.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.43.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Mizuho raised 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.07.

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.