Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Lummis Asset Management LP

Lummis Asset Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,902 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,938 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 2.0% of Lummis Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Lummis Asset Management LP's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 506.9% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,987 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,661,000 after buying an additional 13,353 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,323 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 108,990 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the second quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clifford Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Clifford Group LLC now owns 5,756 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $113.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,443,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $114.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories's 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.