Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Sold by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 28.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 290,237 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 113,813 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $38,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $3,026,180,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,347.0% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,056,934 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $823,804,000 after buying an additional 6,011,891 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $23,502,644,000 after buying an additional 2,977,715 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 180.7% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,063,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $416,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972,097 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 98.6% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 3,467,896 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $471,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,721,523 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Benchmark started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Friday, October 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.42.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $121.82 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $113.39 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.01 and a 200-day moving average of $129.00. The stock has a market cap of $211.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The business had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 31.58%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.