Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 199,683 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 10,874 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,352,134 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $721,984,000 after purchasing an additional 452,308 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $1.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $119.39. 6,584,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,732,088. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $113.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $91.64 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.