Northern Trust Corp Buys 2,060,650 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 2,060,650 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.27% of Abbott Laboratories worth $2,494,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 92,678 shares of company stock valued at $12,408,743 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2 %

ABT traded up $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $130.96. The company had a trading volume of 6,764,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,092,744. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

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.