Next Capital Management LLC Has $285,000 Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Next Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 24.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,519 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Next Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. L.K. Benson & Company P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $326,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $2,144,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 90,252 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,180,000 after buying an additional 9,593 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 25,948 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after buying an additional 1,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $626,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.1 %

ABT stock opened at $126.18 on Wednesday. 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 $141.23. The company has a market cap of $218.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $127.71 and a 200-day moving average of $119.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.