Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.14 Billion Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,180,040 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.56% of Abbott Laboratories worth $1,144,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.87 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $116.25 and a 200-day moving average of $111.06. The stock has a market cap of $197.50 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

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.