Brighton Jones LLC Buys 31,794 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 209.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 46,964 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,794 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $116.99 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $91.64 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories 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.