Haverford Trust Co Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Haverford Trust Co lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 634 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $116.45 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $94.50 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 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 return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

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.