Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Trimmed by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,361,371 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 7,711 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned 0.08% of Abbott Laboratories worth $153,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Berger Financial Group Inc boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 7,853 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 12,447 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,408,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Bolthouse Investments LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $843,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 122.5% during the 4th quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 10,818 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,224,000 after acquiring an additional 5,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 72,346 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,183,000 after purchasing an additional 4,063 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 92,678 shares of company stock worth $12,408,743. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $131.92. The stock had a trading volume of 2,850,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,080,268. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $130.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $228.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

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.