Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by KFA Private Wealth Group LLC

KFA Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,126 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $148,504,000 after buying an additional 1,339,633 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,627,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $351,311,000 after purchasing an additional 853,997 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,664,856 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $354,941,000 after purchasing an additional 801,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,423,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $234,737,000 after buying an additional 783,090 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $107.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,575,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,660,976. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $113.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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.