Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $2.15 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 67.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,662 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 42,665 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $341,777,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $118.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.80, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

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.