Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3%, now holding over 13 million shares valued at approximately $1.74 billion.
• Abbott Laboratories reported $1.26 earnings per share for the last quarter, meeting analysts' expectations, and achieved a revenue increase of 7.4% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, yielding 1.8%, with the payment date set for August 15th.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,108,416 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 168,095 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.75% of Abbott Laboratories worth $1,738,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Coign Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $552,000. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $26,414,000. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the first quarter. Corbyn Investment Management Inc. MD now owns 11,373 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,509,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,340 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Fi3 FINANCIAL ADVISORS LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 535 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of ABT stock traded up $2.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $134.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,985,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,868,751. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $107.11 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $131.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.98. The company has a market capitalization of $233.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

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.