Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 49,586 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,547 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,586 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $25,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 354,435 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $40,409,000 after acquiring an additional 22,932 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 16,449 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,682 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 42,762 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,875,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Cape ANN Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% in the third quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 2,453 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoxton Planning & Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $224,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of ABT opened at $132.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $229.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $116.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.