Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 81.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,584 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 42,050 shares during the quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Citigroup lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.71 on Monday, hitting $103.20. The stock had a trading volume of 4,393,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,697,056. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $104.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.12.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.