Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Free Report) by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,229 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,978 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $131,000. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $96,257,000 after buying an additional 15,521 shares in the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,304,000 after buying an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% in the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. 73.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6 %
NYSE:ABT opened at $114.69 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $107.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.55. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $115.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $199.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.01, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.73.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 20.15%. The firm had revenue of $10.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 12th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 11th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.83%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.05, for a total value of $4,702,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,725,316 shares in the company, valued at $632,515,969.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.05, for a total value of $4,702,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,725,316 shares in the company, valued at $632,515,969.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total transaction of $1,620,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,022,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $112.00 in a report on Monday, October 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.31.
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 Established Pharmaceutical Products segment 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.