Trilogy Capital Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,604 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,170 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% during the third quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $427,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $135,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. StockNews.com raised Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. 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 research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $128.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $222.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $117.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.83. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued 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 net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter 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 year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.