Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 38.1% in Q1, selling 60,261 shares to hold 98,047 shares worth approximately $13 million.
• Multiple hedge funds have recently adjusted their holdings in Abbott, with 75.18% of the stock owned by institutional investors, highlighting ongoing interest in the healthcare company.
• Abbott Laboratories announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.87%, with a payout ratio of 29.57%.

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 38.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,047 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 60,261 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,354,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $5,893,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Five 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ABT traded up $0.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $128.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,087,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,929,149. The firm has a market cap of $223.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $132.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $103.55 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 32.43%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

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.