LGT Group Foundation Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

LGT Group Foundation decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,718 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 235 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $534,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 88.0% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 107,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,199,000 after buying an additional 50,100 shares during the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 14,952 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,705,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.9% in the third quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,629 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14.6% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,212,494 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $366,256,000 after buying an additional 408,586 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of ABT opened at $140.13 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $243.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $123.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.10.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.