William Blair Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,057 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,586 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $635,056,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after buying an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $427,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $135,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.97 on Monday, reaching $127.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,283,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,481,777. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $128.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.94.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. 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. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.94.

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.