20,346 Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Sold by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Machina Capital S.A.S. lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 30.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 45,904 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 20,346 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,843,610,000 after buying an additional 6,769,518 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,343,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350,766 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,603,607,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,706,669 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,515,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth $1,082,524,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $109.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $189.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $104.00 and its 200-day moving average is $101.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.45. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $81.97 and a 52 week high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. The business had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 9.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 94.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 100,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,691,756. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, diagnostic tests, nutritional products and branded generic medicines. Its products serve patients and healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics and other care settings. Abbott’s offerings include the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system, cardiovascular and other medical devices, laboratory and rapid diagnostic tests, and nutrition brands such as Ensure and Similac. Its established pharmaceuticals business sells branded generic medicines in markets outside the United States.