Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Reduces Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,931 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 129 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Insight Folios Inc boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $1.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $112.29. 1,374,771 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,165,515. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.39. The stock has a market cap of $194.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 71.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

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.