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

Perkins Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,830 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,050 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 2.4% of Perkins Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Perkins Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during 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 buying an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $249,508,000 after acquiring an additional 1,996,320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $115.20 and a 200 day moving average of $109.08. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $92.43 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

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 firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

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.