Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 10,723 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Ninety One North America Inc. trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 26.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 10,723 shares during the period. Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Copley Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,435 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 9,859 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $895,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 3,084 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Kinloch Capital LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Kinloch Capital LLC now owns 29,202 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,659,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the second quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 2,451 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $104.62. 5,149,368 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,256,545. The company has a 50 day moving average of $106.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.26. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $132.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market cap of $181.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 11.65%. The business had revenue of $12.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders 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 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. BTIG Research upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.88.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, diagnostic products, nutritional products and branded generic pharmaceuticals. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company serves healthcare providers, institutions, retailers and consumers worldwide.

Abbott’s medical device portfolio includes cardiovascular products, such as coronary stents, structural heart systems and heart failure devices, as well as diabetes-care technologies, including the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system.