Prospector Partners LLC Acquires 36,780 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Prospector Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 215,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,780 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 2.6% of Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,506,000. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 81,143 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,221,000 after purchasing an additional 10,541 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $2,198,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 35.8% in the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,747 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 7.6% during the first quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler increased 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 boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.3 %

ABT opened at $118.13 on Tuesday. The firm 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $115.59 and its 200-day moving average is $110.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for 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 20.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % 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. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.