Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 635,753 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 35,423 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.2% of Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $71,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Welch Group LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,828,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $1.87 on Friday, hitting $135.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,117,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,596,108. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $120.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.65. 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 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $135.41. The firm has a market cap of $234.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value 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 represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.