Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $426,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $98,490,000 after acquiring an additional 8,224 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Three equities research 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.00.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $112.43 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.36. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $195.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.02, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 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. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio 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.