Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Purchases 673 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 100,669 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,387,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Kovack Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 10,050 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares in the last quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 7,091 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 685,800 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $77,571,000 after buying an additional 14,200 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 237,304 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apriem Advisors lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 3,303 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $135.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.56. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $136.99. The firm has a market cap of $235.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.