Millstone Evans Group LLC Invests $235,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,076 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. United Bank increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 187.5% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 91,865 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $10,474,000 after purchasing an additional 59,915 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $271,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.3% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 400,535 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $45,665,000 after buying an additional 43,806 shares during the period. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.0% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,449,611 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $165,270,000 after buying an additional 55,188 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.86 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $126.46. 6,053,463 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,480,971. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $129.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business 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 business's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Company insiders own 1.10% 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.