Swiss National Bank Purchases 26,000 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,163,580 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Abbott Laboratories worth $588,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $115.90 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $97.64 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $201.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.53 and a 200-day moving average of $109.52.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.07.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate 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.

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