Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. Cuts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 50.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 18,398 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 84.5% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 32,123 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,651,000 after purchasing an additional 14,715 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 52,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,936,000 after buying an additional 16,300 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13.9% in the first quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 3,191 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 168,671 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,493 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.8% during the first quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 8,710 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies initiated 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

ABT opened at $115.90 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $97.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.