Rathbones Group PLC Acquires 84,300 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,626,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 84,300 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.4% of Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.15% of Abbott Laboratories worth $297,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $380,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 56,097 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,396,000 after acquiring an additional 2,809 shares during the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 45.7% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. First National Bank of Omaha now owns 193,931 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,110,000 after buying an additional 5,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $124.46 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $215.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $131.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.88. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.