Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Raised by Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 370,739 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 15,816 shares during the period. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $42,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. BDF Gestion purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $5,634,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% in the 1st quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,371,000 after buying an additional 18,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,624,000 after acquiring an additional 14,215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $2.40 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $116.99. 7,698,024 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,744,756. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $91.64 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS 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. 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 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.