Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 348,420 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,344,134 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 348,420 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 0.6% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.08% of Abbott Laboratories worth $152,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $2.04 on Friday, reaching $135.21. The company had a trading volume of 4,165,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,504,524. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $135.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $120.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.