Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 55.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 214,089 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 262,042 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $18,788,216,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first 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. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,352,134 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $721,984,000 after purchasing an additional 452,308 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.67.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE ABT traded up $1.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $119.39. 6,742,032 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,732,088. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $113.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.50. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $91.64 and a 12-month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.