Old West Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Old West Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 21.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,997 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,021 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.0% of Old West Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Second Line Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,155 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 38,695 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664 shares during the last quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 7,994 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 42.3% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 327,288 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,314,000 after purchasing an additional 97,343 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $115.51 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.93.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on 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 increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.