XTX Topco Ltd Acquires 29,150 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

XTX Topco Ltd raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 697.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,331 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,150 shares during the quarter. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in 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 increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th 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 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 raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,027,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,922,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,092,133,000 after purchasing an additional 228,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays lifted 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 increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $114.87 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 $199.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.61. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.