Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Kozak & Associates Inc.

Kozak & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,146 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 102 shares during the quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $130,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $264,876,000. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $771,940,000 after buying an additional 1,596,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.0 %

ABT traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $113.80. 1,988,560 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,288,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.27. The company has a market cap of $197.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

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.