True North Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

True North Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 265.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,062 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,115 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 0.8% of True North Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd 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. Sessa Capital IM L.P. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $264,876,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $191,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,144,818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,040 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $117.76 on Thursday. 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 market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.87 and a 200 day moving average of $113.04. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. 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 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 71.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho upped 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. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.93.

Abbott Laboratories 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.