J. Stern & Co. LLP Purchases 3,977 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 299,133 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,977 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 3.6% of J. Stern & Co. LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. J. Stern & Co. LLP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $34,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $7,651,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Dundas Partners LLP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after acquiring an additional 31,720 shares during the period. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 110.1% during the third quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 16,325 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $117.70. 215,547 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,676,686. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $204.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.59 and a 200 day moving average of $110.04.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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