Retirement Systems of Alabama Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 378,380 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 5,365 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $43,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $113.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $116.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $111.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.71.

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.