Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by VELA Investment Management LLC

VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,636 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.1% of VELA Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. VELA Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $427,481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,409 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $135,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,144,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,040 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $135.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $122.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.56. 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 has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $136.99.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.