Versor Investments LP Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,706 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $651,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $115.74 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $96.20 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $115.43 and its 200 day moving average is $109.35. The company has a market cap of $200.75 billion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

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.