Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,403,705 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 399,621 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $145,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE ABT opened at $117.05 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $108.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.63. The company has a market cap 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.