Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,027 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 839 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $116.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $92.43 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. 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 is currently 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.