Portfolio Design Labs LLC Trims Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 20.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,560 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 4,663 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in 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 valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $264,876,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $249,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $191,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,170 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.07.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded down $1.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $115.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,316,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,697,852. 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 twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $115.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors 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 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.