Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 162,019 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,093 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $17,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $106.58 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.59. 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 has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $184.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.54.

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.