Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 33.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,352,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $721,984,000 after buying an additional 452,308 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.55 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $92.43 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $197.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

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.