Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 3,371,113 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8%, owning a total of 29,763,415 shares following a purchase of 3,371,113 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and T. Rowe Price, have significantly increased their holdings, with T. Rowe boosting its stake by 383.1% in the previous quarter.
• Abbott Laboratories reported earnings of $1.26 per share with a revenue of $11.14 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share.

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,371,113 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 0.8% of Wellington Management Group LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.71% of Abbott Laboratories worth $3,948,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $1,658,180,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,120,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $131.66 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $110.33 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $131.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%. The business's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

Abbott Laboratories 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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