SFE Investment Counsel Has $6.47 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SFE Investment Counsel increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,775 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 485 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.7% of SFE Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after buying an additional 30,218,560 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after buying an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $582,924,000 after buying an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $371,753,000 after buying an additional 1,568,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted 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. Raymond James boosted 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a 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 $121.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.1 %

ABT traded down $1.18 on Thursday, hitting $104.72. The company had a trading volume of 4,585,125 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,658,907. 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 has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

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.