Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Has $22.51 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 199,030 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,135 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,512,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,053 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Wealth Architects LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 6,018 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $681,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $127.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $127.45 and its 200-day moving average is $119.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

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.