Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Acquires 787,251 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,896,939 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 787,251 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 2.9% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned approximately 0.46% of Abbott Laboratories worth $893,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $133,691,000 after purchasing an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted 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 valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $2.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $124.15. 3,153,817 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,952,673. The business has a 50 day moving average of $130.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.25, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. 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 announced its 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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. 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.