Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,394,423 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 103,248 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $144,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,548,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $2,115,836,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $116.55 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $202.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.