Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 219,229 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,834 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.2% in the third quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $568,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 38.6% in the third quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 28,035 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 7,804 shares during the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 34,014 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,844 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $117.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $115.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.91. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

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.