Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 38.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,227,681 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 618,240 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.13% of Abbott Laboratories worth $251,973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $132.06. The company had a trading volume of 3,615,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,130,416. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. 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 $229.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $130.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.90.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.