Lathrop Investment Management Corp Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Lathrop Investment Management Corp raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Lathrop Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 176.3% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $297,000. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $2,061,000. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 21.1% in the first quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,457 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 166,059 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,874,000 after acquiring an additional 10,390 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $117.57 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

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.