Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Purchases 600 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,400 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $5,634,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% during the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,371,000 after acquiring an additional 18,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,624,000 after purchasing an additional 14,215 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $117.82 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $204.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.70, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $91.25 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.40.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.54.

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.