Quantessence Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 4,383 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,383 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $496,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE ABT opened at $131.81 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.60 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $130.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.15. 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued 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 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through 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 transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Corporate 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.

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