Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Acquires 97,343 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 42.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 327,288 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 97,343 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $37,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $115.51 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $116.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.93. 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 firm has a market cap of $200.35 billion, a PE ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 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.