Prospera Financial Services Inc Acquires 7,808 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,880 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 7,808 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. UBS Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.07.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 owns 220,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $117.14. 1,693,890 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,685,120. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $98.95 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $203.17 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.55 and a 200 day moving average of $109.62.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.