Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Holdings Decreased by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 21.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 353,673 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 99,117 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $40,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 268,538 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $30,616,000 after purchasing an additional 40,783 shares in the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $142,000. My Legacy Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 4,180 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 11.2% in the third quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 8,571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Four equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $132.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $229.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.65. 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 of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average of $116.53.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.