Verus Capital Partners LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,705 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $650,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.5% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 114,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,032,000 after purchasing an additional 18,711 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $806,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 331,837 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,716,000 after buying an additional 8,044 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, D Orazio & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 4,470 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.28. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $94.50 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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 note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

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.