abrdn plc Raises Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

abrdn plc boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,275,628 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 37,578 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $143,751,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 354,435 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $40,409,000 after purchasing an additional 22,932 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,025 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,195,000 after purchasing an additional 5,616 shares during the period. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. WealthBridge Capital Management LLC now owns 7,616 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 70,847 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,077,000 after purchasing an additional 12,938 shares during the period. Finally, Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $128.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $116.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.32. The stock has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $129.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.