SouthState Corp Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SouthState Corp raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,936 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,641 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,527,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177,739 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,118,903,000 after buying an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,494,851,000 after buying an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $134.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s fifty day moving average is $131.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.07. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $107.11 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 29.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.47.

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.