Lindbrook Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,734 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,214,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 29,020 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 8,747 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $635,056,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $97,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 504,519 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $57,066,000 after purchasing an additional 5,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,282 shares of company stock valued at $3,263,348 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $137.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $124.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 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 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.