Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 95,394 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 498 shares during the quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.8% in the third quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,092 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 13,819 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 209.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 46,964 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after acquiring an additional 31,794 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA now owns 25,879 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after acquiring an additional 4,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $116.99 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $203.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average is $114.46 and its 200-day moving average is $108.62.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

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.