Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Sells 230 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,139 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 585,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $128.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.94 and a 200 day moving average of $113.90.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on 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 restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories 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.