Bridgewater Associates LP Has $21.69 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bridgewater Associates LP decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 72.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,726 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 515,889 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ABT. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $126.08 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories 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.