Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 661.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,832 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,935 shares during the period. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $711,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 727,351 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $82,269,000 after acquiring an additional 20,457 shares in the last quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 7,247 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Sentinus LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 16,114 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sessa Capital IM L.P. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 4,006,723 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $453,200,000 after purchasing an additional 257,221 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $134.79 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $129.36 and its 200-day moving average is $124.17. The stock has a market cap of $234.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. 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 has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.