Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 16.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,415,650 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 202,835 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Abbott Laboratories worth $147,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,222,332,000 after buying an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $98,490,000 after purchasing an additional 8,224 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $113.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.60.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.