Appleton Partners Inc. MA Sells 806 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,886 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 806 shares during the quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $2,547,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 52,728 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 920.4% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 386,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $40,109,000 after purchasing an additional 348,170 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.8% in the second quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 12,193 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the period. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 17,633 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $112.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.22. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $195.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.33.

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.