41,870 Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by IFP Advisors Inc

Key Points

• IFP Advisors increased its Abbott Laboratories stake by 17.9% in the third quarter, buying 41,870 shares for a total of 276,043 shares valued at approximately $27.3 million.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with Abbott receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $118.88, above its reported trading price of $104.79.
• Abbott exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $1.31 in EPS and $12.59 billion in revenue, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.63 per share, equivalent to a 2.4% yield.

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 276,043 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 41,870 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $27,281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position 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 valued at $8,339,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431 shares during the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $658,000. Aureus Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 25.0% during the first quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 331,920 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $34,078,000 after acquiring an additional 66,422 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 12,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $4,889,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.88.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:ABT opened at $104.79 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $132.02. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $105.91 and its 200 day moving average is $98.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 11.65%. The business had revenue of $12.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women's health and cardiometabolic care.

The company's nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.

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