Legal & General Group Plc Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,347,452 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,506 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.82% of Abbott Laboratories worth $1,490,843,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in 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 last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $7,595,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $98,490,000 after buying an additional 8,224 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $112.70 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $196.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.36 and a 200 day moving average of $108.42.

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, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.00.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.