DT Investment Partners LLC Boosts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

DT Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,945 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note 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, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $116.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $91.64 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.74 billion, a PE ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.