Ballast Inc. Sells 674 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ballast Inc. decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,606 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 674 shares during the quarter. Ballast Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $117.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a PEG ratio of 2.74 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 has a one year low of $91.64 and a one year high of $121.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.47.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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.