Schroder Investment Management Group Has $122.10 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,079,490 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,661 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $122,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,937,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $79,026,000 after acquiring an additional 120,967 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.2% in the third quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 2,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 16,293 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last three months. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $130.81 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.39. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABT. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

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.