Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 42.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 327,288 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 97,343 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $37,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 24,802 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,105 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.6% in the second quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,394 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.3% during the second quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 12,889 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 3,766 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $1.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $114.14. The stock had a trading volume of 4,365,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,620,102. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.09, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.01. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

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.