11,487 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Acquired by AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,487 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,299,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. NEOS Investment Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 104,006 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $11,764,000 after purchasing an additional 24,887 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 556,068 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $62,897,000 after buying an additional 23,830 shares during the period. Moment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $563,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,827,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,339,667 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $835,474,000 after acquiring an additional 345,700 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

ABT opened at $126.46 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $219.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $129.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.16. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.