Baron Wealth Management LLC Invests $234,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,056 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 11.7% in the third quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $921,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% in the third quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 2,962 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $338,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 5,163,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $588,700,000 after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, S&CO Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the third quarter. S&CO Inc. now owns 262,646 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $29,944,000 after buying an additional 3,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.3 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $117.36 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $98.95 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.