Great Lakes Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,130,410 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,227 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.1% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $127,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $132.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.13.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

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.