CIBC Asset Management Inc Sells 105,015 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

CIBC Asset Management Inc reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 591,636 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 105,015 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $66,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. KLCM Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 10,378 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,056,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 2,137 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Monument Capital Management lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,972 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

ABT stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $133.21. 5,043,771 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,580,481. 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 one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $133.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $119.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.53.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.