WR Wealth Planners LLC Sells 304 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

WR Wealth Planners LLC lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,441 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after acquiring an additional 701,740 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,764,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,932,000. Garde Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Haverford Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 93,879 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,333,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.27. The stock had a trading volume of 4,320,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,114,636. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $197.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.