Provident Investment Management Inc. Buys 969 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Provident Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,407 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 0.1% of Provident Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Provident Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,115,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $341,777,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.43 on Tuesday. 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $108.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.58 billion, a PE ratio of 36.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

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.