Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $2.15 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 67.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 42,665 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $341,777,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $249,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $118.13 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.56. The firm has a market cap of $205.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.80, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.