Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,702 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,219 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 30,218,560 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,229,122,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,893,715,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $3.31 on Wednesday, reaching $105.90. 11,999,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,677,717. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.14.

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.