National Pension Service Purchases 408,586 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,212,494 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 408,586 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.18% of Abbott Laboratories worth $366,256,000 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 the company. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 53,804 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,115,000 after buying an additional 844 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 25,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $404,000. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 10,517 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.8% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,879 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $120.57 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $92.43 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.86.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.30% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

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.