Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $49.80 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 479,241 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,480 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $49,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $113.70 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $197.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.45.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ABT shares. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.33.

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.