Northcape Wealth Management LLC Purchases 92 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 41,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 1.6% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BDF Gestion bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 110.1% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 16,325 shares during the period. Finally, Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,176,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $115.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.49. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $97.64 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.02 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.