ProShare Advisors LLC Acquires 127,133 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,900,249 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 127,133 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.11% of Abbott Laboratories worth $197,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the second quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the first quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 8,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. Barclays increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed 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 for the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.33.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $113.70 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.80 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $110.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.53.

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 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 company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 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.