John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,974 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,219 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,229,122,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $1,893,715,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 is accessible through this link. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:ABT traded up $2.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $107.28. 10,461,905 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,702,120. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $186.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.