1776 Wealth LLC Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

1776 Wealth LLC cut its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,426 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. 1776 Wealth LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $619,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,387 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $956,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,423,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $162,238,000 after acquiring an additional 204,478 shares in the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 404,839 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $46,156,000 after acquiring an additional 66,474 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 3,489 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $115.90. 6,898,605 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,701,520. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $97.64 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.49. The company has a market capitalization of $201.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.