SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Invests $449,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,970 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $449,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,282 shares of company stock valued at $3,263,348 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.68. The stock had a trading volume of 8,155,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,485,037. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $124.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.42. The company has a market cap of $238.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.