Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,019 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,093 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $17,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the third quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after buying an additional 11,508 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three research 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.54.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $106.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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