Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super Acquires Shares of 36,023 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 36,023 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,075,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $635,056,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,018,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,020,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,329 shares in the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,480.2% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,551,626 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $169,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $135,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE ABT traded up $1.30 on Friday, hitting $131.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,459,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,026,742. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 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. The firm has a market cap of $227.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $130.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.96.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given 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 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

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.