Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $6.33 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after buying an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,595,000 after buying an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $98,490,000 after buying an additional 8,224 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.69 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.33.

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.