Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock Sold by Ninety One North America Inc.

Ninety One North America Inc. lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 26.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 10,723 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 3,230 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 47,166 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,661,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 120.4% in the third quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 2,030 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 1,109 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.3% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 3,107 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.8% during the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. BTIG Research increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.88.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.6%

ABT traded up $1.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $104.62. 5,149,368 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,256,545. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $81.97 and a one year high of $132.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $106.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.03 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The firm had revenue of $12.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.55%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, diagnostic products, nutritional products and branded generic pharmaceuticals. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company serves healthcare providers, institutions, retailers and consumers worldwide.

Abbott’s medical device portfolio includes cardiovascular products, such as coronary stents, structural heart systems and heart failure devices, as well as diabetes-care technologies, including the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system.