Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,112,410 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,278 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.18% of Abbott Laboratories worth $323,411,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $113.69 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $110.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.