Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Titleist Asset Management LLC

Titleist Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,437 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 950 shares during the quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 34,773 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,933,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 264,500 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $29,918,000 after buying an additional 53,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,117,790 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,421,000 after buying an additional 62,533 shares during the period. Rahlfs Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,047,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $124.46 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month 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 company has a market capitalization of $215.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.88.

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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.