Signet Financial Management LLC Sells 178 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Signet Financial Management LLC decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,856 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $323,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Insight Folios Inc boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $113.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $115.23 and a 200-day moving average of $112.60. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $196.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.73%.

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.