Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,901 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,665 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $118.13 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $204.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.91, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.04.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.