Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 204,478 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,423,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 204,478 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $162,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. First Long Island Investors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 404,839 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $46,156,000 after acquiring an additional 66,474 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 3,489 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,371 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 60,360 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,882,000 after buying an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

ABT opened at $115.90 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.49. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $97.64 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $201.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories 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.