Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,665 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 6,824 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 132,052 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $15,055,000 after buying an additional 6,874 shares during the period. Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $278,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 22,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Mizuho lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $113.71. 1,163,696 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,689,384. The company has a market cap of $197.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $92.43 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

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.