Phillips Financial Management LLC Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Phillips Financial Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,025 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 615 shares during the period. Phillips Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 45.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 52,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,936,000 after buying an additional 16,300 shares in the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 50.4% in the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.5% in the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 12,944 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $445,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 146,882 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $16,695,000 after purchasing an additional 32,005 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $115.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $201.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $97.64 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

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.