Lincoln National Corp Acquires 4,610 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Lincoln National Corp lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,846 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 4,610 shares during the quarter. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% in the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.3 %

ABT traded down $0.27 during trading on Monday, reaching $105.63. The company had a trading volume of 3,789,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,541,432. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.78.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 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 $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.