Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 205,412 Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 205,412 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $27,342,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 68,625 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,192,000 after buying an additional 1,133 shares during the last quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc. now owns 21,573 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,889,000 after acquiring an additional 1,119 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 728,652 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $97,596,000 after purchasing an additional 136,352 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.9% during the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,809 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% in the third quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 13,779 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,846,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, October 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, October 16th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.42.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $121.05 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $113.50 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $210.49 billion, a PE ratio of 15.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $125.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.74.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.58%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.