AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,457 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $724,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.7% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 100,715 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $13,360,000 after buying an additional 10,543 shares during the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 12,591 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,670,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Brogan Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.3% during the first quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 3,215 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 21.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 19,307 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,529,000 after buying an additional 3,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, St. Louis Trust Co increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 21.7% in the first quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 9,679 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Mizuho lifted 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. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. 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. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Five investment 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, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $124.41. 2,470,359 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,223,613. The firm has a market cap of $216.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $132.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.68. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.92 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 32.43%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.