Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock Holdings Cut by Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC

Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 25.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,276 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 37,275 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $23,502,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,715 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,354,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,656,964,000 after acquiring an additional 689,517 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,293,067 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,184,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390,554 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $3,026,180,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,177,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,792,209,000 after purchasing an additional 68,613 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $124.30 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $110.86 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $216.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 29.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.