World Equity Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

World Equity Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,376 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,961 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,990,000 after acquiring an additional 35,127 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 15,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $281,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 27,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,177,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $135.04 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.93. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $135.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $234.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s 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.