Xponance Inc. Purchases 17,809 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,906 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 17,809 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $25,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $582,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $371,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,700 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $105.27. 7,294,151 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,699,425. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 67.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories 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.