Paladin Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,560 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $748,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $249,508,000 after buying an additional 1,996,320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.15.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $116.25 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $90.87 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.23 billion, a PE ratio of 36.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $113.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.30.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.38 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.