Xcel Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Xcel Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,434 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% during the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,045 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the second 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.89 on Tuesday, hitting $116.10. 1,212,481 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,722,539. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.97 billion, a PE ratio of 36.16, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $91.64 and a 1 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

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.