Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,371 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in 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 worth $7,976,382,000 after buying an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after buying an additional 508,524 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $771,940,000 after buying an additional 1,596,835 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.5% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,683,586 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $761,996,000 after buying an additional 524,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,654,712 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $483,673,000 after buying an additional 563,506 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $115.90 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $201.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average of $115.53 and a 200 day moving average of $109.52. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $97.64 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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 lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James reiterated 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, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is 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.