Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Position Lowered by Sepio Capital LP

Sepio Capital LP decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 216,075 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 13,622 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 2.0% of Sepio Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $24,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Titleist Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 38.2% in the 4th quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 34,773 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,933,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.1% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 264,500 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $29,918,000 after buying an additional 53,000 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,117,790 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,421,000 after buying an additional 62,533 shares during the period. Finally, Rahlfs Capital LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $1,047,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 5.4 %

NYSE ABT opened at $124.46 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $120.84. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $215.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s 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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, 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 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.