Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Dundas Partners LLP

Dundas Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 2.7% of Dundas Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Dundas Partners LLP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $34,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,027,390 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after buying an additional 508,524 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $112.61 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week 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 stock has a market cap of $195.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.95 and a 200-day moving average of $108.36.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 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 the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.