Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,376 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,373,461,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $635,056,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% during the fourth 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. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,144,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22,466.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,006,223 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $113,814,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001,764 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Bank of America increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $124.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $131.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.84. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $215.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.