Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,560 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the period. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,074,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 373,375 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,161,000 after purchasing an additional 5,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 634.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,758 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,882,000 after buying an additional 25,707 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $1.70 on Wednesday, hitting $113.20. 837,606 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,639,014. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.42 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.29.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABT. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.00.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.