Entropy Technologies LP Decreases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Entropy Technologies LP reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 69.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,362 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 12,187 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $115.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $199.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $96.92 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $115.45 and a 200 day moving average of $109.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average 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.