Continental Investors Services Inc. Buys New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Continental Investors Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 24,817 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,643,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Insight Inv LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 148.4% during the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 477 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Johnson Midwest Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Johnson Midwest Financial LLC now owns 560 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $97.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.63. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $93.25 and a twelve month high of $124.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $106.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.86. The firm has a market cap of $168.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 26.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total value of $26,842.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares in the company, valued at $4,222,103.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,091,998.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Julie L. Tyler sold 260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.24, for a total transaction of $26,842.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,222,103.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140 over the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.