Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Invests $335,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,525 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after acquiring an additional 739,260 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted 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 valued at $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted 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 valued at $6,118,903,000 after acquiring an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after acquiring an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 8.3%

Shares of ABT stock traded down $10.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $120.77. The company had a trading volume of 15,633,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,205,895. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $210.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $133.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid 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 yield of 1.95%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.33.

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.