Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Holdings Raised by Prospector Partners LLC

Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 215,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 36,780 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 2.6% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after buying an additional 585,915 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after buying an additional 508,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $771,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,683,586 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $761,996,000 after acquiring an additional 524,683 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $118.13 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.91, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.