APG Asset Management N.V. Has $169.49 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1,480.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,551,626 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 1,453,436 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.09% of Abbott Laboratories worth $169,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $19,075,481,000 after purchasing an additional 739,260 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,023,027,000 after acquiring an additional 765,636 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,985,233,000 after acquiring an additional 581,325 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,373,461,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,940,321 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,463,680,000 after purchasing an additional 330,844 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reaffirmed 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. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.94.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business'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 of the company's stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $2.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $126.84. 7,355,410 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,996,659. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $130.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.24. The stock has a market cap of $219.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. 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.