Fairscale Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 1,310 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,310 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $135,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $197.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Barclays upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of 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 started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.