OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Takes $286,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 2,640 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $126.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $128.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.