Voleon Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,416 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $133,691,000 after purchasing an additional 57,499 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $132.52. The company had a trading volume of 5,752,044 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,125,684. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $130.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $229.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.