Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC Sells 2,995 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 235,111 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,995 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.7% of Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $26,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $116.54 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.46 and a 200-day moving average of $108.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $91.64 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.