Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8%, acquiring an additional 12,239 shares, bringing their total holdings to approximately $212.9 million.
• Analysts have given Abbott Laboratories a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $144.47, while multiple firms recently updated their ratings and price objectives for the stock.
• Abbott Laboratories declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, which will be paid on August 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.84%.

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,604,803 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 12,239 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Abbott Laboratories worth $212,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 82,955 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,017 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, StoneX Group Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 56.8% during the 4th quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 20,246 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,290,000 after acquiring an additional 7,331 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $126.90. 637,891 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,913,095. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $220.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $107.11 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company's fifty day moving average is $131.86 and its 200 day moving average is $130.26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 32.43%. The business's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

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.