Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $76.30 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 575,204 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 10,250 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $76,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after purchasing an additional 739,260 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted 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 worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,118,903,000 after acquiring an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,023,027,000 after acquiring an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,985,233,000 after acquiring an additional 581,325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABT. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of ABT traded up $3.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $123.81. The stock had a trading volume of 19,570,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,224,928. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.68. 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 firm has a market cap of $215.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.92 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

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, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.