J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Acquires 39,287 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 205,687 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,287 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $23,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $635,056,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,018,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,020,074,000 after buying an additional 1,948,329 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,480.2% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,551,626 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $169,488,000 after buying an additional 1,453,436 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $131.00 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm 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%. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.