Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc. cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,988 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 883 shares during the quarter. Mraz Amerine & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $116.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $202.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $91.64 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $114.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.62.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.