Key Financial Inc Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,947 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the quarter. Key Financial Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake 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 worth $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $5.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $118.60. 10,149,305 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,727,483. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.05, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $92.43 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

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.