Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,372,735 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 220,777 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $384,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped 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. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.3 %

ABT stock traded up $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $119.39. 6,742,032 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,732,088. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $91.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $113.97 and its 200-day moving average is $108.52. The company has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 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 Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.