South Dakota Investment Council Has $444,000 Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 46.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,928 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,400 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $134.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $121.20 and a 200-day moving average of $117.11. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $136.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $233.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.