Fiera Capital Corp Trims Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fiera Capital Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 24.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,539 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,343 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. 73.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $98.00 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $96.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.15. The stock has a market cap of $170.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $115.83.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.15% and a net margin of 12.92%. The business had revenue of $10.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 13th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $122.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $118.00 in a report on Thursday, October 19th. TheStreet cut Abbott Laboratories from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.47.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.05, for a total transaction of $4,702,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,725,316 shares in the company, valued at $632,515,969.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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 Established Pharmaceutical Products segment 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.