10,630 Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by Waycross Partners LLC

Key Points

• Waycross Partners increased its Abbott Laboratories stake by 427.1% in the third quarter, adding 10,630 shares to hold 13,119 shares valued at about $1.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.18% of the company.
• Abbott reported quarterly earnings of $1.42 per share, matching analysts’ estimates, while revenue of $13.01 billion exceeded expectations and rose 14.5% year over year.
• Analysts give Abbott a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average price target of $118.32. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share.

Waycross Partners LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 427.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,119 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 10,630 shares during the period. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $13,843,610,000 after buying an additional 6,769,518 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,343,246,000 after buying an additional 1,350,766 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $1,603,607,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% in the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,706,669 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,515,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614,965 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $1,082,524,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $3.58 on Friday, reaching $110.02. 8,345,115 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,814,218. The company has a market cap of $190.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $104.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $81.97 and a 1 year high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The firm had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.30 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Barclays started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $119.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $406,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 100,791 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,691,756. The trade was a 3.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.