New York Life Investment Management LLC Has $26.84 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

New York Life Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 237,304 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $26,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 worth $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $427,481,000 after buying an additional 1,200,409 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $135,886,000 after buying an additional 1,196,018 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,144,818,000 after buying an additional 1,180,040 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $135.94 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.13 and a 200-day moving average of $117.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $136.59.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.