Miramar Capital LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Miramar Capital LLC reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 29.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,753 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 33,458 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 2.1% of Miramar Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Miramar Capital LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $34,313,000 after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $22,091,000 after buying an additional 31,720 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 110.1% during the third quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,551,000 after buying an additional 16,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $115.90. The stock had a trading volume of 6,898,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,701,520. The stock has a market cap of $201.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.49. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $97.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

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.