Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its shareholding in Abbott Laboratories by 41.3%, selling 130,077 shares, leaving it with 184,528 shares worth $24.14 million.
• Institutional investors now own 75.18% of Abbott's stock, with a wide range of recent adjustments in holdings from various hedge funds.
• Abbott Laboratories reported $11.14 billion in quarterly revenue, exceeding estimates, and announced a dividend of $0.59 per share, yielding approximately 1.87%.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 41.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 184,528 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 130,077 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,018,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,020,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,948,329 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ABT traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $128.77. The company had a trading volume of 1,819,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,935,061. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $103.55 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $224.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 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.