Valmark Advisers Inc. Sells 120 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Valmark Advisers Inc. lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,753 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,796,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $5,634,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% in the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 18,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 14,215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $113.42 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $197.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $114.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $91.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.