Grandfield & Dodd LLC Sells 290 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $117.10 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $98.95 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $203.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $115.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.70. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

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.