Nuveen LLC Purchases Shares of 12,500,411 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,500,411 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,658,180,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.72% of Abbott Laboratories at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Cim LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,327 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $134.41 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $107.11 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $233.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $131.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.07.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

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.