LPL Financial LLC Has $165.27 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,449,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 55,188 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $165,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $117.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $115.55 and its 200-day moving average is $109.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year 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 stock has a market cap of $203.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

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.