Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 35.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,450 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,933 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,537,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after buying an additional 739,260 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,985,233,000 after purchasing an additional 581,325 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ABT opened at $132.10 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.