D.A. Davidson & CO. Lowers Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

D.A. Davidson & CO. trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,257 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 4,807 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $17,701,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $118.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.04.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.