Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by King Luther Capital Management Corp

King Luther Capital Management Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,460,929 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 92,700 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $166,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $115.93 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.