Alta Advisers Ltd Increases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Alta Advisers Ltd boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 21.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,720 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $380,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $302,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 54,237 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,184,000 after buying an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 32.6% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 332,189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,873,000 after purchasing an additional 81,669 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE ABT opened at $130.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.08. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.