Hemenway Trust Co LLC Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 345,317 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,354 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 3.1% of Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $35,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,257 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 7,556 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the period. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,322 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Aveo Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Finally, Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 111,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,252,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $0.61 on Friday, reaching $113.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 410,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,835,794. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $197.81 billion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $107.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.79.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

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.