Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 207,031 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,360,908 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 207,031 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,346,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 223.3% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 2,780 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15.9% during the third quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13.5% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% in the third quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,672 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded down $1.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $104.38. The stock had a trading volume of 2,373,746 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,515,656. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.58 billion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.85. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.