Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Fayez Sarofim & Co

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co has reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2%, now holding 4,621,744 shares valued at approximately $617.7 million.
• Abbott Laboratories reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.26, meeting analyst expectations, with revenues of $11.14 billion, a 7.4% increase year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.

Fayez Sarofim & Co lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,621,744 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 54,054 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.5% of Fayez Sarofim & Co's holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned approximately 0.27% of Abbott Laboratories worth $617,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,120,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616,471 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.8%

ABT traded up $2.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $134.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,985,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,868,751. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $131.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $233.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $107.11 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

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.