Dover Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Dover Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,918 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 1.6% of Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $84,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,566.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 34,986 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 32,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the first quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 72,196 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,206,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $116.04. 6,535,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,722,229. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $90.87 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $201.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.15, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $113.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.32. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.