Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Sells 6,429 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,701 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 6,429 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of ABT stock traded up $3.30 on Friday, reaching $123.81. 19,570,335 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,275,089. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $133.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.38.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.