Davis Capital Management Sells 100 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Davis Capital Management cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 18.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $44,000 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. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,032 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 3,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 10,187 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC now owns 5,470 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $1,892,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the 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 owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1 %

ABT traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $111.31. 9,885,690 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,385,752. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $104.22 and its 200 day moving average is $109.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.