Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $66.14 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 636,466 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,044 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $66,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted 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 acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,548,228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,092,133,000 after purchasing an additional 228,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.70 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.45.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.