Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 5,881 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted 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 acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,548,228,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,390 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after acquiring an additional 508,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,922,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,092,133,000 after acquiring an additional 228,039 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of 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 shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.15.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $116.41. 156,225 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,711,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $113.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-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, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.40%.

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.