Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $96.94 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 880,721 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,609 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Abbott Laboratories worth $96,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Summit Asset Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 3,919 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 50,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,599,000 after purchasing an additional 2,492 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,930,872 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,093,091,000 after acquiring an additional 236,741 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $750,000. Finally, FFT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.0 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $105.88. 3,610,292 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,562,046. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $112.79 and a 200 day moving average of $108.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $183.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.