IMS Capital Management Has $1.14 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

IMS Capital Management lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,019 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,265,762,000 after buying an additional 585,915 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $113.29 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.41. The firm has a market cap of $196.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.71.

Abbott Laboratories 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.