Meitav Investment House Ltd. Sells 5,000 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABTFree Report) by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 7,595 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,123,000. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 12,304 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the third quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 11,796 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 64,367 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,339,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $113.55 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $114.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.57 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $92.43 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABTGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

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