2,589 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Bought by Fiduciary Financial Group LLC

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,589 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.7% during the second quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 50,776 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,276,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 11,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 1,351 shares during the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.3% in the second quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,616 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,766,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 46.3% in the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 3,554 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.1% during the second quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 60,571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $111.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,627,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,033,353. The company’s 50-day moving average is $105.40 and its 200-day moving average is $108.81. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $193.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.