Principal Securities Inc. Acquires 8,389 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 25.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,759 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 8,389 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $133.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,043,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,580,481. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $133.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average of $116.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.75. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.