Madison Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 194,717 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $22,024,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 2,640 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,134 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $130.29 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.21. The firm has a market cap of $225.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.94.

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.

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