Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $3.11 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,292 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,440 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after acquiring an additional 508,524 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.5% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,683,586 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $761,996,000 after acquiring an additional 524,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,163,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $588,700,000 after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE ABT opened at $116.17 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $98.95 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.54. The stock has a market cap of $201.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.