Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by WBH Advisory Inc.

WBH Advisory Inc. cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,378 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 338 shares during the period. WBH Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 12,881 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 31,329 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,255,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $623,000. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 34.4% during the 2nd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 25,322 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of ABT traded down $1.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $108.53. The company had a trading volume of 456,034 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,016,007. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $188.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.93. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.00.

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.