AIA Group Ltd Increases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 39.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,068 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,682 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.27. The stock had a trading volume of 4,277,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,648,809. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $104.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.18.

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.