Pathstone Holdings LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Pathstone Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 262,374 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 9,401 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $29,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after buying an additional 508,524 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $771,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,835 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,683,586 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $761,996,000 after acquiring an additional 524,683 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,163,580 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $588,700,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE ABT traded down $0.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $117.10. The company had a trading volume of 4,542,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,698,179. The company's fifty day moving average is $115.55 and its 200-day moving average is $109.70. The company has a market cap of $203.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $98.95 and a one year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.07.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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.