Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Increased by Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP

Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 130,102 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,701 shares during the quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $131.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $118.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.71. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.50. The company has a market capitalization of $228.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

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.