Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Sells 628 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 628 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Waterloo Capital L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $729,000. Ossiam raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Ossiam now owns 37,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,514 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 758,506 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $83,485,000 after purchasing an additional 37,534 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 151,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $16,676,000 after purchasing an additional 5,965 shares during the period. Finally, State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 751,696 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $82,739,000 after buying an additional 37,712 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Insider Activity

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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.52 on Monday, hitting $113.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,275,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,734,417. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $112.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

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.