Synovus Financial Corp Sells 3,317 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 161,678 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,317 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $18,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 110.1% in the third quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,551,000 after buying an additional 16,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,176,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.87 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $116.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.06. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

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.