Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Acquires 247 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,916 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in 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 period. Capital International Investors lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $341,777,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $249,508,000 after buying an additional 1,996,320 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $113.69 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $197.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $110.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.33.

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.