Prospera Financial Services Inc Increases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 114,880 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,808 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after buying an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $264,876,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $249,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after buying an additional 1,667,170 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.3 %

ABT stock opened at $117.36 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $98.95 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $203.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.62.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

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.