Holocene Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Holocene Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 111.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 862,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 454,635 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $98,307,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE ABT opened at $118.94 on Monday. 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 has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $206.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $115.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.43.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on ABT shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on 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, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

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.