Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. Takes $3.20 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 28,250 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,195,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 27,786 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,143,000 after buying an additional 16,893 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,945 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 29,890 shares in the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 31,451 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,553,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andra AP fonden grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 83,408 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,434,000 after buying an additional 13,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of ABT opened at $137.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $125.35 and a 200-day moving average of $118.71.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research 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. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.