Vestcor Inc Lowers Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vestcor Inc lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,504 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 11,351 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $114.90 on Tuesday. 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 moving average price is $116.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.93. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.