Conning Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Conning Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 253,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 7,028 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $33,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Trust Co lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 109.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 29,412 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,939,000 after acquiring an additional 15,394 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the second quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 168,401 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,904,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 858,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $115,032,000 after purchasing an additional 19,966 shares in the last quarter. Seaview Investment Managers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $11,068,000. Finally, Guggenheim Capital LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 98,941 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,457,000 after purchasing an additional 11,794 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $124.90 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $110.86 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a market cap of $217.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $126.12 and a 200-day moving average of $129.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.30. The business had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The business’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 29.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $162.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.68.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.