13,924 Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,690 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,924 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% during the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 100,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,691,756. This trade represents a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $109.38 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $132.02. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $104.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $189.43 billion, a PE ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 9.75%. The firm had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $119.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.32.

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. Its established pharmaceuticals business sells branded generic medicines in markets outside the United States.