Stevens Capital Management LP Grows Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Stevens Capital Management LP grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 130.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,948 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.67 on Friday, reaching $107.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,575,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,660,976. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.96.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.