Two Sigma Advisers LP Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Two Sigma Advisers LP reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 16.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,908,200 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 749,000 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.0% of Two Sigma Advisers LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $445,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $115.59 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $116.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid 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 (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

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.