Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock: Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Raises Holdings

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 123,625 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,105 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,603,607,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,082,524,000. Flossbach Von Storch SE bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $902,938,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $732,788,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,843,610,000 after acquiring an additional 6,769,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 5.6%

ABT stock opened at $115.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.13, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.54. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $104.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.87. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The business had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.30 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $119.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.32.

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.