BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Purchases 124,378 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 59.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 332,348 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 124,378 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $34,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake 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 valued at $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $113.50. 2,316,244 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,814,468. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $110.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during 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%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a "buy" rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.33.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.