Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stake Lifted by Titleist Asset Management LLC

Titleist Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 38.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,437 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $124.46 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $215.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.88.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.