Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 13,828 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 211,788 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 13,828 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. J. Stern & Co. LLP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,439.6% in the fourth quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 39,319,009 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,926,279,000 after acquiring an additional 39,005,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $2,938,892,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 303.0% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,429,571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $454,784,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330,368 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $336,815,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 175,556,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $21,995,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,402,408 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $121.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Argus decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Daniel J. Starks acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $92.65 per share, for a total transaction of $926,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 6,751,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $625,489,692.95. The trade was a 0.15% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Philip P. Boudreau bought 2,200 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $91.50 per share, for a total transaction of $201,300.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 2,200 shares in the company, valued at $201,300. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $89.27 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $81.97 and a twelve month high of $137.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $155.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $89.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.36.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $11.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.99 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.90% and a return on equity of 17.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.59%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.