Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 120,988 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,743,910 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 120,988 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.27% of Abbott Laboratories worth $522,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,229,122,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,360,908 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,346,959,000 after acquiring an additional 207,031 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,930,872 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,093,091,000 after acquiring an additional 236,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,007,098,000 after acquiring an additional 135,821 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James restated a "buy" rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,787 shares of company stock worth $4,098,073. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $104.77. 5,452,772 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,582,843. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $111.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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