Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 990,460 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 35,455 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Abbott Laboratories worth $112,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,940,321 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,463,680,000 after buying an additional 330,844 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 144,900 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $16,390,000 after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares in the last quarter. Unified Investment Management purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $368,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 114,556 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,957,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 25,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,859,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.5 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $140.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $243.03 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $123.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.10.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.