King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 15,848 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.1%, owning approximately 1,416,243 shares valued at $187.87 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Abbott Laboratories reported $1.26 EPS for the last quarter, matching analyst estimates, and a revenue of $11.14 billion, surpassing expectations with a 7.4% year-over-year growth.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59, with a dividend yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 29.57%; the dividend payment is scheduled for August 15th.

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,416,243 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 15,848 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 0.08% of Abbott Laboratories worth $187,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Biltmore Family Office LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.5% during the first quarter. Biltmore Family Office LLC now owns 31,946 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,238,000 after purchasing an additional 2,515 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,402,000. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 70,776 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $9,388,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Pandora Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $744,000. Finally, Fiduciary Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $440,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total transaction of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.0%

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $129.46. The company had a trading volume of 7,037,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,882,090. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $131.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.15. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $109.76 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $225.32 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

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.