Trust Co of the South Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Trust Co of the South increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the second quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the second quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 8,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler initiated 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. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.64 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $112.10 and its 200 day moving average is $108.19. The stock has a market cap of $197.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.