First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Sells 6,824 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 43,665 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 6,824 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 23.0% in the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 8,849 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,923 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,355,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,371,000 after acquiring an additional 18,131 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust Co. VA acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $5,277,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.31 on Wednesday, hitting $113.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,163,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,689,384. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $197.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $92.43 and a one year high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $114.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

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.