Foster & Motley Inc. Has $600,000 Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Foster & Motley Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,309 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after buying an additional 1,667,170 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% during the third quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $427,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,144,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE ABT opened at $127.69 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $221.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.00. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $129.85.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.