Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 9,962 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 368,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 9,962 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $41,715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $890,000. iA Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 94,343 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,671,000 after acquiring an additional 12,768 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 596,578 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $67,479,000 after purchasing an additional 50,550 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,673 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 763,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $86,322,000 after purchasing an additional 18,272 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted 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. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $127.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $127.98 and a 200 day moving average of $119.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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 the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.