Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stake Trimmed by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 598,465 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 55,716 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $68,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $249,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

ABT traded up $0.97 during trading on Friday, hitting $116.00. 2,903,570 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,683,639. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $97.64 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.43. The firm has a market cap of $201.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 company's revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.