National Pension Service Has $387.39 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,424,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 212,396 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $387,389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 valued at $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. raised its position 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 last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,144,818,000 after buying an additional 1,180,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $136.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $235.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $136.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $121.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.30.

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. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABT. Barclays restated 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.