SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 89.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,695 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 290,258 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,811,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,828,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 30.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 107,308 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,234,000 after purchasing an additional 25,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

ABT opened at $125.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $115.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.31. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $125.67. The stock has a market cap of $217.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its 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 net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

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.