Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Sold by WoodTrust Financial Corp

WoodTrust Financial Corp lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 57.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,972 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 8,165 shares during the quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Carr Financial Group Corp raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 3,880 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 795 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $108,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Trust Co increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 14,018 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 12,555 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $121.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $211.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $126.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.00. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $113.39 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $157.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.42.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.