Freemont Management S.A. Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Freemont Management S.A. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 46.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,180 shares during the period. Freemont Management S.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,488,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $115.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $200.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $96.20 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.35. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last announced 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 company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

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.