Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,022 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,352,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $721,984,000 after purchasing an additional 452,308 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $117.90 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.76 and a 200-day moving average of $108.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.73, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $91.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.