Zhang Financial LLC Acquires 94 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Zhang Financial LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,498 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $219,000. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the third quarter. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC now owns 77,440 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,829,000 after purchasing an additional 2,548 shares in the last quarter. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $91,400,000 after buying an additional 50,592 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $407,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.0 %

ABT opened at $116.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $201.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.34. 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 $90.87 and a 1-year high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.