Sentry Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,195 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,171 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after buying an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after buying an additional 585,915 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $134.81 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $136.59. The company has a market capitalization of $233.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. 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 50 day moving average of $121.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.11.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.