Twin Capital Management Inc. Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 0.6% of Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,018,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,020,074,000 after buying an additional 1,948,329 shares during the last quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Wellspring Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,323 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,006,068 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $113,878,000 after purchasing an additional 38,130 shares during the last quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 122.0% during the 4th quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 455 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Trek Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 9,761 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 2,531 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 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 transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $124.46 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.88. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. 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 announced its 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. 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.