Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 96,567 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 52.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 280,090 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,567 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $31,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

ABT stock opened at $113.35 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $196.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $115.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.37.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

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.