North Star Investment Management Corp. Sells 92 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

North Star Investment Management Corp. lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Insight Folios Inc increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.02 on Tuesday, hitting $117.67. 598,605 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,703,130. The firm has a market cap of $204.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.95. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $92.43 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

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.