Capital International Sarl Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Capital International Sarl lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 272,580 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 16,161 shares during the quarter. Capital International Sarl's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $30,832,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $3.00 on Wednesday, hitting $128.73. 4,524,088 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,025,417. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $130.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.15. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.