Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 163.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,609 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 123,843 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $635,056,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $133.50 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $232.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.