Intech Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,323 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 1st 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. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,027,390 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,922,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,092,133,000 after purchasing an additional 228,039 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $113.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. 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 has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.