Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $51.78 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 456,993 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $51,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 50.1% in the third quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 38.0% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,868,000 after acquiring an additional 11,768 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 51.0% in the third quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 9,392 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $127.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $127.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.