Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock: Waycross Partners LLC Grows Holdings

Waycross Partners LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 427.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,119 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,630 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $1,603,607,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,082,524,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $902,938,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $732,788,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,843,610,000 after acquiring an additional 6,769,518 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of ABT stock traded down $3.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $110.02. The company had a trading volume of 8,345,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,814,218. The company’s fifty day moving average is $104.04 and its 200 day moving average is $101.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $132.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.38 billion, a PE ratio of 41.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 94.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 100,791 shares in the company, valued at $11,691,756. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $118.00 target price (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, diagnostic tests, nutritional products and branded generic medicines. Its products serve patients and healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics and other care settings.

Abbott’s offerings include the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system, cardiovascular and other medical devices, laboratory and rapid diagnostic tests, and nutrition brands such as Ensure and Similac.