Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Meyer Handelman Co.

Meyer Handelman Co. reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 107,433 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 buying an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after buying an additional 585,915 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $112.97 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $195.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $115.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm 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 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 71.73%.

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.