Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Sells 60,916 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 64.1% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 60,916 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,548,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,390 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $2,115,836,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.27. 4,320,139 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,906,677. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $106.97 and its 200-day moving average is $108.76. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

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.