Thomas Story & Son LLC Purchases 2,001 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Thomas Story & Son LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1%, now holding 67,590 shares valued at approximately $8.97 million.
• Abbott Laboratories had a strong quarterly earnings report, meeting estimates with $1.26 EPS and achieving a 7.4% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Multiple institutional investors, including Goldman Sachs and T. Rowe Price, have significantly raised their positions in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter.

Thomas Story & Son LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,590 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,001 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 3.5% of Thomas Story & Son LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Thomas Story & Son LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,658,180,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,616,471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. The trade was 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 owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE:ABT opened at $131.38 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $107.11 and a 12 month high of $141.23. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $131.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.17. The stock has a market cap of $228.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 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.

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