Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 235,906 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,809 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $25,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $105.27. 7,295,526 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,674,732. The company has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.48%.

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.