Welch Group LLC Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,174 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,603 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,430,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,352,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $721,984,000 after purchasing an additional 452,308 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $113.90. 531,205 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,699,470. The company has a market capitalization of $198.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. 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 52-week low of $91.64 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.66.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.