LifeSteps Financial Inc. Purchases New Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $249,508,000 after buying an additional 1,996,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $117.62. 1,547,927 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,709,657. The stock has a market cap of $204.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.40. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $91.64 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Equities 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.