Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,702 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,685 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $3.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $105.90. 11,999,074 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,677,717. The stock has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.48%.

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.