Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Decreased by Fernwood Investment Management LLC

Fernwood Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,893 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 487 shares during the period. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 12,310 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nvwm LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 13,759 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 798,034 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $90,984,000 after purchasing an additional 11,254 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,234,000. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 14,909 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 4.6 %

NYSE:ABT traded up $5.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,149,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,727,483. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $92.43 and a one year high of $121.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $114.93 and its 200-day moving average is $108.84. 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 company has a market cap of $206.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 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.