Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,730 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 163 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,764,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,932,000. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Haverford Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 93,879 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,333,000 after acquiring an additional 664 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $114.16. 167,796 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,851,378. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

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.