OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. 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 three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $125.46. The stock had a trading volume of 6,726,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,480,421. The company has a market cap of $217.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.04.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 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.