Summit Global Investments Grows Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 71.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,999 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,493 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $148,504,000 after buying an additional 1,339,633 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,627,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $351,311,000 after buying an additional 853,997 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,664,856 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $354,941,000 after buying an additional 801,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,423,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $234,737,000 after buying an additional 783,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.0 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $105.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.51. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.