St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Has $1.26 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $114.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $198.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.58, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $91.64 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.63 and a 200-day moving average of $108.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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.