Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Has $913,000 Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,037 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,431 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction 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 $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction 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 $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.70.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $105.23. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,481,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,871,929. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.83 and a 200 day moving average of $109.33. The company has a market capitalization of $183.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given 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 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.