Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 372,717 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,810 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $49,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in 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 buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.
Get Our Latest Analysis on ABT
Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories
In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.
Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1%
Shares of ABT stock opened at $132.35 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $132.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $230.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.
Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.
About Abbott Laboratories
(
Free Report)
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.
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