Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $1.03 Billion Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,109,211 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 595,738 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,030,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,075,481,000 after buying an additional 739,260 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after purchasing an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,373,461,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $131.00 on Friday. 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 has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $227.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $130.62 and its 200 day moving average is $121.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.