Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 921,552 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,418,938 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 921,552 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 0.5% of Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,404,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 48.3% in the fourth quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 847 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 268.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 13,727 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,553,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 9,740 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,102,000 after buying an additional 698 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 19,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestline Management LP lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Crestline Management LP now owns 18,595 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,103,000 after acquiring an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $133.87 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $232.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by 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.