Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 383.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Abbott Laboratories worth $945,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $380,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $302,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 54,237 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 32.6% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 332,189 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $37,873,000 after purchasing an additional 81,669 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $131.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $228.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $130.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.15. 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 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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