US Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 5,204 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $148,504,000 after buying an additional 1,339,633 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in 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 last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,627,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $351,311,000 after purchasing an additional 853,997 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.0% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,664,856 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $354,941,000 after purchasing an additional 801,191 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,423,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $234,737,000 after buying an additional 783,090 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.88. The stock had a trading volume of 3,614,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,541,498. The company has a market cap of $182.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.62, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $111.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.79.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued 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 yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’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 $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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,787 shares of company stock valued at $4,098,073 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.