Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 1,335 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,360 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,335 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vectors Research Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $1,642,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 696,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $79,353,000 after purchasing an additional 14,708 shares during the last quarter. Broderick Brian C increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% in the third quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 115,876 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,211,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.4% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 452,790 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $51,623,000 after purchasing an additional 22,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 46,091 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,255,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $115.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $115.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.39. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $97.64 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $199.51 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

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.