Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

by · The Markets Daily

Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Free Report) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,157 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on ABT

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $117.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.56 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $98.95 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.62.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Read More