Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 9,962 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 368,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 9,962 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $41,715,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $890,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 94,343 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $10,671,000 after acquiring an additional 12,768 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 596,578 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $67,479,000 after purchasing an additional 50,550 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,673 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 763,170 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $86,322,000 after purchasing an additional 18,272 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $127.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,283,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,481,777. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $128.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $220.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 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 transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.