BSW Wealth Partners Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

BSW Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,310 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the second 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. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $5.23 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,149,305 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,727,483. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $92.43 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $206.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $114.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.30%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. 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 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

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.