Veracity Capital LLC Sells 1,295 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Veracity Capital LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 27.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,506 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,295 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,548,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $2,115,836,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $111.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,081,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,004,157. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $193.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $105.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.70. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.00.

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.