Waddell & Associates LLC Purchases Shares of 1,862 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Waddell & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,862 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $117.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.88. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 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 (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.