Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $710.75 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,283,743 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 189,354 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 2.4% of Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned 0.36% of Abbott Laboratories worth $710,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $131.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $228.66 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $118.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.71. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.50. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.