Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 378,380 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 5,365 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $43,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $264,876,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $771,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.71.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $113.39 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

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.