Sanders Capital LLC Has $136.26 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sanders Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,195,151 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,097 shares during the period. Sanders Capital LLC owned about 0.07% of Abbott Laboratories worth $136,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.4% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 8,843 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 973 shares in the last quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 69,901 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares during the period. Prospector Partners LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 215,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $24,623,000 after purchasing an additional 36,780 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 12,928 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,474,000 after buying an additional 889 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $262,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $118.16 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $204.94 billion, a PE ratio of 35.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.04.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

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.