Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 30.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,123 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,064 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,484,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 557,608 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $63,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,754 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,674 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $123,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.6% in the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,609 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $183,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $137.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $238.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.71.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.