Scholtz & Company LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Scholtz & Company LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,461 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,902 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 2.6% of Scholtz & Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Scholtz & Company LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after buying an additional 739,260 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after acquiring an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,985,233,000 after acquiring an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,373,461,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $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. In the last three months, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

ABT opened at $131.71 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.61. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

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.