25,603 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Acquired by Mufg Securities Americas Inc.

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 25,603 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,896,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 145.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 17,936 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 47,473 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,370,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,600 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,443,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooper Financial Group grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,680 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $129.02 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $129.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.72. 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 has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $224.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.