JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Has $253.95 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,262,391 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 114,939 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.5% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned approximately 0.13% of Abbott Laboratories worth $253,954,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $133.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $232.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.