Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) is Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 62.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,220 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 124,023 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 2.4% of Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Cidel Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $36,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 42,762 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,875,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,639 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares during the period. Finally, Patten Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 7,741 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $129.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $223.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.93.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.