Granite Investment Partners LLC Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Granite Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,524 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,770 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the second quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 8,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

ABT stock opened at $113.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.60. The stock has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

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.