Avanza Fonder AB Purchases New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 182,445 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $20,636,000. Abbott Laboratories comprises 0.6% of Avanza Fonder AB's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $264,876,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $191,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,144,818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,040 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

ABT stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.45. 6,443,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. The company has a 50-day moving average of $114.93 and a 200-day moving average of $112.73. 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 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories 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.