Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stake Decreased by Intact Investment Management Inc.

Intact Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,100 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 4,300 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $19,075,481,000 after buying an additional 739,260 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in 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 worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,118,903,000 after buying an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,023,027,000 after buying an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $132.88 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $132.19 and its 200-day moving average is $126.95. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market cap of $231.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid 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 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 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.

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