Nordea Investment Management AB Buys 19,282 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6%, acquiring an additional 19,282 shares, bringing its total holdings to 310,456 shares valued at approximately $41.9 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Goldman Sachs, have also raised their stakes in Abbott Laboratories recently, indicating strong institutional support for the company.
• Analysts are optimistic about Abbott Laboratories, with upgrades in target prices and ratings, suggesting it may be a buy with a consensus target of $147.61 and a current market cap of $223.98 billion.

Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 310,456 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 19,282 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $41,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $22,527,039,000 after buying an additional 1,177,739 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,948,117,000 after buying an additional 3,371,113 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,916,966,000 after buying an additional 1,639,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,108,416 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,738,831,000 after buying an additional 168,095 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total transaction of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.61.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $128.69 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $132.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.54. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $110.86 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $223.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.78% and a net margin of 31.88%.The business had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The business's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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 Monday, November 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.57%.

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.

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