Prudential PLC Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Prudential PLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 26,844 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,830 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,527,778 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,548,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,115,836,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $116.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $202.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $108.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.69. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

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.