Associated Banc Corp Lowers Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Associated Banc Corp reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.9%, now holding 128,408 shares valued at approximately $17 million after selling 9,487 shares.
• Abbott Laboratories reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.26, matching analysts' expectations, with revenues of $11.14 billion—up 7.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.8%, payable on August 15th.

Associated Banc Corp lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 6.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,408 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 9,487 shares during the period. Associated Banc Corp's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $17,033,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cim LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,919,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the first quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the first quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,327 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,298,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Opes Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the first quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $132.09. The stock had a trading volume of 4,690,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,877,068. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.85. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $107.11 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $229.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 29.57%.

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.