Home Federal Bank of Tennessee Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Home Federal Bank of Tennessee raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,294 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 0.7% of Home Federal Bank of Tennessee’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $5,634,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,371,000 after purchasing an additional 18,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 14,215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on ABT shares. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $116.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 428,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,718,697. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.52. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $91.64 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $203.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its 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 the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was 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. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.