Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,755 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $130.63 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $118.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $132.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.