Renaissance Technologies LLC Increases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 86.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,562,366 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 725,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $162,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $341,777,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $249,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,996,320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $116.40 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two investment 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.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% 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.