Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 238,216 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2,211.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 248,989 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 238,216 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

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

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $109.38 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.74. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $132.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $189.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 18.04%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 94.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Argus downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories 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. Its established pharmaceuticals business sells branded generic medicines in markets outside the United States.