B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Trims Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 58,722 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 5,982 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,102,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $114.01 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $111.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.16. The company has a market capitalization of $198.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

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.