Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Meeder Advisory Services Inc.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,292 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in 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 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $116.17 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $115.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.49 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $98.95 and a one year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective 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 upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

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.