Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Acquires 109,500 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,710,023 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 109,500 shares during the quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned about 0.10% of Abbott Laboratories worth $194,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.39 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.71.

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.