Founders Financial Securities LLC Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Founders Financial Securities LLC reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 52.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,724 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,011 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $415,948,000 after buying an additional 3,742,912 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $551,434,000 after buying an additional 1,477,671 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,077,148,000 after buying an additional 1,457,847 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $103.91 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 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 Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.