Cascade Investment Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 2,543 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cascade Investment Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 2,543 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $116.04 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $90.87 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.44 and a 200 day moving average of $108.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.