Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Has $13.26 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,220 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,488 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 14,902 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $335,000. Morton Community Bank lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Morton Community Bank now owns 28,876 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,266,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 75,267 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,513,000 after acquiring an additional 5,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on 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 set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2 %

ABT stock opened at $137.43 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $125.84 and its 200-day moving average is $118.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’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 approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. 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.