Intech Investment Management LLC Has $12.71 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 374.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 112,369 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,707 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $464,000. Holistic Financial Partners boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 2,962 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

ABT stock opened at $127.54 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $127.45 and its 200 day moving average is $119.58. The stock has a market cap of $221.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.