Benjamin Edwards Inc. Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 588.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 336,537 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 287,620 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $38,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 5,401 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $561,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the second quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 16,127 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.1% during the second quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 6,023 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,408 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ABT opened at $118.77 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $206.00 billion, a PE ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.87 and its 200 day moving average is $110.43.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm 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 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.