Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 103.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,307 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,724 shares during the quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,099 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $352,000 after buying an additional 439 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 48,771 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,543,000 after acquiring an additional 6,302 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 114,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,032,000 after acquiring an additional 18,711 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $806,000. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 331,837 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,716,000 after acquiring an additional 8,044 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE ABT opened at $116.80 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $94.50 and a 12 month 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 company has a market capitalization of $202.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.21.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its 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. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories 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.