Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 130,102 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 2,701 shares during the period. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 valued at $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $191,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,170 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $135,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $130.12. 5,116,167 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,719,520. 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 has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $132.65. The stock's fifty day moving average is $119.28 and its 200-day moving average is $116.29. The stock has a market cap of $225.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.