DSM Capital Partners LLC Acquires 370,049 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

DSM Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 75.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 859,404 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 370,049 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 1.5% of DSM Capital Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. DSM Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $97,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $130.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $119.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.42.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. 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 company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.