Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP Boosts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,401 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,352,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $721,984,000 after purchasing an additional 452,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 4.6 %

Shares of ABT opened at $118.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $92.43 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.86.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.