abrdn plc Boosts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 150.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,220,503 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 734,008 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned approximately 0.07% of Abbott Laboratories worth $134,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after buying an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,229,122,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $1,893,715,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of ABT stock traded up $2.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $107.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,533,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,474,096. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $114.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $186.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.