CIBC Asset Management Inc Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

CIBC Asset Management Inc reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 591,636 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 105,015 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $66,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $91,400,000 after buying an additional 50,592 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Embree Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 28,257 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,222,000 after purchasing an additional 3,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 45.6% in the third quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,605 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $130.63 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $226.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50 day moving average is $118.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.