Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Has $14.36 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 44,492 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% 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. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $135.41 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $131.50 and a 200-day moving average of $126.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 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 company has a market capitalization of $235.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

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.