Dundas Partners LLP Boosts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Dundas Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 2.7% of Dundas Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Dundas Partners LLP's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $34,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 7,556 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,322 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 111,176 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $12,252,000 after buying an additional 3,767 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 104,007 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $11,448,000 after acquiring an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $124.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ABT traded up $0.09 on Thursday, reaching $112.70. The stock had a trading volume of 3,508,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,813,483. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.39. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

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.