Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,606 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,086,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,375,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,624,000 after acquiring an additional 14,215 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 17,839 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,028,000 after acquiring an additional 3,506 shares during the period. Nelson Capital Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 59.1% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC now owns 5,831 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $663,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Insight Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $5,831,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $115.31 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $92.43 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

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.