Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Holdings Raised by Rathbones Group PLC

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,697,536 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 71,430 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.7% of Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $357,828,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Seeds Investor LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 2,052 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 64.2% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,421 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,744,000 after buying an additional 6,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 11,109 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total transaction of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $131.38 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $107.11 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $228.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $131.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.17.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.47.

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.