Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,361,371 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 7,711 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado owned about 0.08% of Abbott Laboratories worth $153,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 54,237 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $6,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 32.6% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 332,189 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $37,873,000 after purchasing an additional 81,669 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

ABT stock traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $130.55. The company had a trading volume of 4,315,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,068,311. 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 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $130.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.65. The stock has a market cap of $226.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.07, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

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.