Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 6,817 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 158,308 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 6,817 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $17,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Folios Inc increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.7 %

ABT stock opened at $127.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $220.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.64. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $129.85.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. 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 yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

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.