Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co

FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,091 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 905 shares during the period. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 132.5% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,252 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 3,563 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 2,254 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 22,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $135.94 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $136.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% 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.