Prospector Partners LLC Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Prospector Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,759 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 784 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises 2.7% of Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 5.4 %

NYSE ABT opened at $124.46 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $215.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. 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 has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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 revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued 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 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

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.