Kennedy Capital Management LLC Acquires 10,306 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,757 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,306 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 820,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $92,789,000 after buying an additional 42,660 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 9,543 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $866,000. Finally, Faithward Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Faithward Advisors LLC now owns 7,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $840,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE ABT opened at $126.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $130.75 and its 200 day moving average is $121.34. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $219.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

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.