Procyon Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Procyon Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,199 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 181 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,868,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 506.9% in the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,987 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,661,000 after buying an additional 13,353 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 6,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the second quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 20,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Sienna Gestion grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.6% in the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 3,801 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miramar Capital LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 112,211 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $11,660,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

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.