EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 12,670 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 31.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,288 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 12,670 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,595,000 after acquiring an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $98,490,000 after purchasing an additional 8,224 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $114.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $198.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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 is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.