1,062,221 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT Bought by Vestor Capital LLC

Vestor Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,062,221 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $104,979,000. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 3.0% of Vestor Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 84,377 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,339,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431 shares during the period. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $658,000. Aureus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 25.0% in the first quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 331,920 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,078,000 after buying an additional 66,422 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 786.0% in the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,276,000 after buying an additional 12,474 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $4,889,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $406,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 100,791 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,691,756. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Argus downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.4%

ABT stock opened at $110.41 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $103.99 and a 200 day moving average of $101.72. The firm has a market cap of $191.04 billion, a PE ratio of 41.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.54. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $132.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.42. The firm had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.97% and a net margin of 9.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 94.03%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, diagnostic tests, nutritional products and branded generic medicines. Its products serve patients and healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics and other care settings.

Abbott’s offerings include the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system, cardiovascular and other medical devices, laboratory and rapid diagnostic tests, and nutrition brands such as Ensure and Similac.