Corps Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Corps Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,201 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $132.18 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $229.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $119.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.53. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 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.