Elefante Mark B Takes $3.71 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Elefante Mark B bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 32,766 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,706,000. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 3.4% of Elefante Mark B’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Three Seasons Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ABT. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $133.92 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $233.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $129.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.