Cullen Investment Group LTD. Raises Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $415,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $551,434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,671 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,077,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,847 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $103.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $180.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $105.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $110.10. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.64.

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.