Eagle Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,044,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,554 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $121,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 176.3% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 647 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $297,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $2,061,000. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 166,059 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,874,000 after purchasing an additional 10,390 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $117.57 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.91 billion, a PE ratio of 35.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

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.