Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 276,043 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 41,870 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $27,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $31,000. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% during the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 59.3% in the first quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 446 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $104.79 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $105.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 11.65% and a return on equity of 17.69%. The business had revenue of $12.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. UBS Group reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.88.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.