Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 598,799 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 14,400 shares during the quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $79,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Wormser Freres Gestion bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABT. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. 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 note on Thursday, April 17th. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business'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 transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded down $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $125.67. 4,707,671 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,987,335. The stock's 50-day moving average is $132.71 and its 200 day moving average is $129.70. The stock has a market cap of $218.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.92 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. 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.