Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Acquires 33,316 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 46.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,626 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 33,316 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.3% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Renaissance Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of 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 decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $121.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,787 shares of company stock valued at $4,098,073. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.94. 6,149,178 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,560,422. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.00 and a 200-day moving average of $108.85. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $182.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 68.54%.

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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