Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Position Lifted by Prospector Partners LLC

Prospector Partners LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,195 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,970 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 2.1% of Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $18,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $113.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $197.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $110.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.53.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories 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.