Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Has $27.08 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 239,395 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 13,077 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $27,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $135.94 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $122.13 and a 200-day moving average of $117.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $136.59.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio 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.