Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by Danske Bank A S

Danske Bank A S grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,210,066 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 298,974 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $119,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $31,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Balance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% in the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 100,791 shares in the company, valued at $11,691,756. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $1.34 during trading on Friday, hitting $108.59. The stock had a trading volume of 6,199,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,559,261. The firm has a market cap of $188.08 billion, a PE ratio of 40.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $81.97 and a 12 month high of $132.02. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 18.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.30 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 94.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. BTIG Research dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Barclays started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, diagnostic tests, nutritional products and branded generic medicines. Its products serve patients and healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics and other care settings. Abbott’s offerings include the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system, cardiovascular and other medical devices, laboratory and rapid diagnostic tests, and nutrition brands such as Ensure and Similac. Its established pharmaceuticals business sells branded generic medicines in markets outside the United States.