Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc.

Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,325 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,543,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,963,974,000 after acquiring an additional 488,764 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after acquiring an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.80. The company has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

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.