MQS Management LLC Has $338,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

MQS Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 56.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,962 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,824 shares during the quarter. MQS Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 907,849 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $103,504,000 after buying an additional 2,662 shares during the last quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the third quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 210,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $23,980,000 after purchasing an additional 4,364 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 21.8% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 129,531 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $14,768,000 after purchasing an additional 23,201 shares in the last quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the third quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 349,606 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $39,859,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Savvy Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 8,606 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 2,488 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $115.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.39. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $96.92 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business 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 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

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.