Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 765,636 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.06% of Abbott Laboratories worth $4,023,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $635,056,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $135,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,144,818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,040 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock traded down $7.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $124.46. The stock had a trading volume of 10,775,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,905,172. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company's 50-day moving average price is $131.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.84. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $215.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.