Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stock Holdings Increased by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Asset Management One increased its Abbott Laboratories stake by 6.8% in the third quarter, adding 57,530 shares to own 898,419 shares valued at approximately $88.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 75.18% of Abbott.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Abbott receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $118.32, although several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Abbott reported quarterly EPS of $1.42 and revenue of $13.01 billion, up 14.5% year over year, while declaring a $0.63 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 2.4% yield.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 898,419 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 57,530 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned 0.05% of Abbott Laboratories worth $88,791,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $13,843,610,000 after acquiring an additional 6,769,518 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,343,246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350,766 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $1,603,607,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,706,669 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,515,963,000 after acquiring an additional 2,614,965 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,082,524,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $120.00 target price on the stock. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $118.00 price target (up from $115.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $118.32.

Key Abbott Laboratories News

Here are the key news stories impacting Abbott Laboratories this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Abbott launched its whole-genome sequencing Oncodetect molecular residual disease test, which is designed to detect traces of cancer during and after treatment. The test can track up to 5,000 patient-specific variants and addresses a potentially large market, although the near-term financial contribution is uncertain. Abbott launches Oncodetect molecular residual disease test
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary on Abbott’s plan to spin off its nutrition segment argues that separating the slower-growing business could improve the company’s growth profile, sharpen management focus and create potential value for shareholders. Abbott nutrition spin-off outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Several Wall Street and Zacks articles highlighted optimistic analyst opinions and strong investor interest in ABT, but they offered limited new fundamental information and cautioned that consensus recommendations may not reliably predict performance. Analyst views on Abbott
• Negative Sentiment: Argus downgraded Abbott from Buy to Hold following a reduction in company guidance. The downgrade is the clearest immediate pressure on the stock because it signals weaker expected earnings momentum. Abbott downgraded at Argus
• Negative Sentiment: Recent analysis cited continuing demand headwinds, litigation risks and mixed quarterly results, with Abbott’s nutrition business weighing on sales growth. These concerns offset some of the longer-term upside expected from the spin-off. Abbott demand and litigation risks

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:ABT opened at $103.22 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $81.97 and a 1-year high of $132.02. The stock has a market cap of $178.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.52 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's 50-day moving average is $104.93 and its 200-day moving average is $102.38.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.42. The business had revenue of $13.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.30 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.03%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women's health and cardiometabolic care.

The company's nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.

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