Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 23,834 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 219,229 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,834 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.2% in the third quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 4,985 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 28,035 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,196,000 after acquiring an additional 7,804 shares during the last quarter. Cahill Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the third quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 34,014 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,973,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.7% during the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,844 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $117.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.91. The firm has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.