Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 585,915 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,265,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $2,160,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 454,334 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $51,640,000 after buying an additional 12,847 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth about $2,506,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,543 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.1% during the first quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 55,031 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,255,000 after acquiring an additional 12,068 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $117.76 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.94. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

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.