Sanders Morris Harris LLC Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Sanders Morris Harris LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,031 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $898,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,843,610,000 after acquiring an additional 6,769,518 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,343,246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,350,766 shares in the last quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 39,319,009 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,926,279,000 after purchasing an additional 39,005,451 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,887,109 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,241,076,000 after purchasing an additional 118,014 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,603,607,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $103.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $81.97 and a 12-month high of $132.02. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $106.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $12.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.52 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 11.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 81.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 18th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.88.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is a diversified healthcare company that develops, manufactures and sells medical devices, diagnostic products, nutritional products and branded generic pharmaceuticals. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company serves healthcare providers, institutions, retailers and consumers worldwide.

Abbott’s medical device portfolio includes cardiovascular products, such as coronary stents, structural heart systems and heart failure devices, as well as diabetes-care technologies, including the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system.