Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stake Lifted by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,814 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,705 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $117.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,001,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,686,210. The company has a market cap of $203.82 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $115.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.62. 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 12-month low of $98.95 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories 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.