LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Purchases Shares of 82,000 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 82,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,521,000. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.0% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $116.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.65. The company has a market capitalization of $202.58 billion, a PE ratio of 36.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.