Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 54,709 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 78.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,355 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 54,709 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after acquiring an additional 508,524 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased 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 valued at $771,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,596,835 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 19.7% during the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,158,903 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $639,972,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014,421 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $115.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $96.20 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $200.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.25, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

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.