Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,045 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $3,022,564,000 after buying an additional 1,298,219 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,229,122,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,153,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,164,611,000 after purchasing an additional 32,157 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,007,098,000 after purchasing an additional 135,821 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,949,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $576,228,000 after purchasing an additional 20,851 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. 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 research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their target price 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, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $107.51. The company had a trading volume of 2,396,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,707,109. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.08 and its 200-day moving average is $107.90.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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.