Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock Sold by St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management cut its Abbott Laboratories stake by 95.6% in the third quarter, selling 49,107 shares and retaining 2,286 shares valued at approximately $233,000.
• Wall Street remains broadly optimistic, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $118.88; 75.18% of Abbott’s shares are held by institutional investors.
• Abbott reported quarterly EPS of $1.31 and revenue of $12.59 billion, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 13% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, yielding about 2.4% annually.

St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 95.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,286 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 49,107 shares during the period. St. Louis Financial Planners Asset Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $31,000. Summit Securities Group LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 59.3% in the 1st quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 446 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BTIG Research upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 13th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.88.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $104.79. 8,242,633 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,826,727. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $105.91 and a 200 day moving average of $98.31. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $81.97 and a 1 year high of $132.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The company had revenue of $12.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.55%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories NYSE: ABT is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, diagnostic products, nutritional products and branded generic pharmaceuticals. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company serves healthcare providers, institutions, retailers and consumers worldwide.

Abbott's medical device portfolio includes cardiovascular products, such as coronary stents, structural heart systems and heart failure devices, as well as diabetes-care technologies, including the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system.

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