Interchange Capital Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Interchange Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 416 shares during the quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,494,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,650 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $133.70 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $133.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm 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 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.61.

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.