Bank of Montreal Can Sells 75,833 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,215,220 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 75,833 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.19% of Abbott Laboratories worth $363,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after purchasing an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 581,325 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,940,321 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,463,680,000 after buying an additional 330,844 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $2.34 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $126.84. The stock had a trading volume of 7,355,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,003,334. The stock has a market cap of $219.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $130.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.34. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business 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 company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 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.