Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,296 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,713 shares during the quarter. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $771,940,000 after buying an additional 1,596,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,352,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $721,984,000 after buying an additional 452,308 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $117.69 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $204.13 billion, a PE ratio of 35.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $92.43 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.