Banco Santander S.A. Trims Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,893 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,130 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $117.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.88.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.