MGO One Seven LLC Buys 2,168 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,293 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 2,168 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after buying an additional 739,260 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,118,903,000 after buying an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,023,027,000 after purchasing an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,985,233,000 after purchasing an additional 581,325 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $128.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,849,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,073,198. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $130.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.46. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $223.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 value 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. This represents a 1.26 % 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.