Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stake Lessened by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,366 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,713 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,257 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 7,556 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,322 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 111,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,252,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $117.05 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $108.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.63. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $203.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.