Saturna Capital Corp Purchases 124 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Saturna Capital Corp grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 394,195 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the quarter. Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $44,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’s 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 $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $132.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $229.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average is $126.23 and its 200 day moving average is $119.13. 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 fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.