Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Boosts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 63.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 115,637 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,718 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $890,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 94,343 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,671,000 after acquiring an additional 12,768 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 596,578 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $67,479,000 after purchasing an additional 50,550 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,673 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 763,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $86,322,000 after purchasing an additional 18,272 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.64 on Thursday. 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 market cap of $221.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $127.98 and its 200-day moving average is $119.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 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 payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented 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 note on Monday, January 27th. 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. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.