Qtron Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Qtron Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,893 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,463 shares during the quarter. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,506,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,527,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,177,739 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,120,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616,471 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,916,966,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639,954 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,108,416 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,738,831,000 after buying an additional 168,095 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $131.66 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $110.33 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $229.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.22.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total transaction of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. BTIG Research lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.47.

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.