Abbott Laboratories $ABT Stake Lifted by Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 30.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 867,163 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 203,662 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.4% of Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $85,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 152,563,476 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,843,610,000 after purchasing an additional 6,769,518 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 80,926,234 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,343,246,000 after buying an additional 1,350,766 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,603,607,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 16,706,669 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,515,963,000 after buying an additional 2,614,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $1,082,524,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Abbott Laboratories from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Mary Moreland sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $406,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 100,791 shares in the company, valued at $11,691,756. This represents a 3.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $108.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,199,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,559,261. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $188.08 billion, a PE ratio of 40.52, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.54. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.04% and a net margin of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.30 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a $0.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.03%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets medical devices, diagnostic tests, nutritional products and branded generic medicines. Its products serve patients and healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics and other care settings. Abbott’s offerings include the FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system, cardiovascular and other medical devices, laboratory and rapid diagnostic tests, and nutrition brands such as Ensure and Similac. Its established pharmaceuticals business sells branded generic medicines in markets outside the United States.