Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock Bought by True Freedom Investing LLC

True Freedom Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,283 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,874 shares during the quarter. True Freedom Investing LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $31,000. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $106.33 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $183.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.54. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $81.97 and a 12-month high of $132.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.06.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 94.03%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.