Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $1.44 Billion Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,609,477 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 10,322 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,437,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 11.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 165,125 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,826,000 after purchasing an additional 16,812 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,302.6% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 114,032 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,001,000 after buying an additional 105,902 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 3,395 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.0% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,449,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $165,270,000 after purchasing an additional 55,188 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $115.60 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $200.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.74. 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 announced 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 net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Mizuho upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.