Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Invests $53.78 Million in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 475,300 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $53,775,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.5% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,252 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 3,563 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.8% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 18,637 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after buying an additional 2,254 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.6% during the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $596,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 22,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.9% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $135.94 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $235.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $136.59. 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 50 day simple moving average of $122.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.43.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business 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 company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.