Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Increased by PDS Planning Inc

PDS Planning Inc raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 117,416 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.2% of PDS Planning Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $635,056,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in 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 worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,200,409 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $135,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $221.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.58.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.