Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. Purchases 18,802 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 39.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,059 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 18,802 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $128.90. 4,849,055 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,051,448. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.31. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm 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 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 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is 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.