Forte Capital LLC ADV Has $564,000 Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,984 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $135.04 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $135.41. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.83. 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 firm has a market cap of $234.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.