Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. Has $6.58 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 44.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,682 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,619 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 4.2% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,576,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 13,246 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 782 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $37,067,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 72.8% during the 1st quarter. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 375 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.2% in the first quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salvus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.0% during the first quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $2.56 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $116.83. 3,557,156 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,721,376. The company has a market cap of $203.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $113.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio 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.