Tradition Wealth Management LLC Sells 340 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Tradition Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,606 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. Tradition Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $753,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $118.77 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.87 and a 200 day moving average of $110.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.10, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 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.