Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 15,212 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Martingale Asset Management L P cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 276,207 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 15,212 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 0.8% of Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $31,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Faithward Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 7,427 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1,480.2% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,551,626 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $169,488,000 after buying an additional 1,453,436 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $452,000. German American Bancorp Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. German American Bancorp Inc. now owns 85,426 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $9,663,000 after acquiring an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 38.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 351,598 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $39,771,000 after purchasing an additional 96,995 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Bank of America lifted 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, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE ABT traded up $2.34 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $126.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,355,410 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,003,333. The stock has a market cap of $219.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents 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 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.