GAM Holding AG Makes New $1.22 Million Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

GAM Holding AG bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 10,812 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,223,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Folios Inc boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 30,617 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,491,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $1.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $135.04. 7,117,852 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,596,108. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $120.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $135.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $234.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.