Gold Investment Management Ltd. Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Gold Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,256 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 109 shares during the quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signature Wealth Management Group boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 2,213 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 40,814 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,617,000 after buying an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $703,000. Glenview Trust co raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 93,316 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,555,000 after acquiring an additional 3,821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 23,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.02 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. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $220.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $127.16 and its 200-day moving average is $119.47.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.