Bokf Na Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

BOKF NA boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,485 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 4,632 shares during the period. BOKF NA's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $16,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $635,056,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.50 on Friday, reaching $133.50. 4,976,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,124,497. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $232.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a PEG 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. The business's 50 day moving average price is $129.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.34.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.