AdvisorNet Financial Inc Has $5.24 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,123 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after buying an additional 30,218,560 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after buying an additional 4,886,954 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $582,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $371,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.2 %

ABT opened at $113.66 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $197.22 billion, a PE ratio of 34.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.10 and a 200-day moving average of $106.58.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.77.

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.