Private Advisor Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Private Advisor Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 159,421 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,295 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $18,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $116.99 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.46 and its 200 day moving average is $108.62. The stock has a market cap of $203.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $91.64 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 results 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. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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 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.