Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Verus Capital Partners LLC

Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,705 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $116.45 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $201.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $115.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.28. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $94.50 and a 52 week 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.