American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 606,207 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 92.9%, acquiring an additional 606,207 shares to reach a total of 1,258,863 shares valued at approximately $167 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have raised their stakes in Abbott Laboratories, with Vanguard Group now holding over $22.5 billion in shares after a 0.7% increase this quarter.
• Abbott Laboratories reported a 7.4% revenue increase year-over-year, with a quarterly revenue of $11.14 billion and an EPS of $1.26, meeting consensus estimates.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 92.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,258,863 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 606,207 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Abbott Laboratories worth $166,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $22,527,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,739 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,118,903,000 after acquiring an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,494,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $131.66 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average price is $131.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.18. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $110.33 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend 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.

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