Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by SFE Investment Counsel

SFE Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,775 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.7% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after buying an additional 4,886,954 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,893,715,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock traded down $1.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $104.72. The stock had a trading volume of 4,585,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,658,907. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $114.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $181.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.