Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Empirical Asset Management LLC

Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,045 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass More Asset Management increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.52 on Monday, reaching $116.64. 256,348 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,700,880. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $113.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.30. The company has a market capitalization of $202.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 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 has a 12-month low of $90.87 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.15.

Abbott Laboratories 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.