Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,344,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 348,420 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 0.6% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $152,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,265,762,000 after buying an additional 585,915 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $132.18 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $229.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average of $116.53.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reissued 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.