Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Benjamin Edwards Inc.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 50,889 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,856 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.2% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,229,122,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,153,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,164,611,000 after acquiring an additional 32,157 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,930,872 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,093,091,000 after acquiring an additional 236,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,007,098,000 after acquiring an additional 135,821 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.3 %

ABT stock traded down $0.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $105.96. 1,621,944 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,559,549. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $113.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.86 billion, a PE ratio of 32.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.