Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $3.14 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,794 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Scholtz & Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Scholtz & Company LLC now owns 47,461 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 5,902 shares in the last quarter. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $1,855,000. OV Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. OV Management LLC now owns 16,773 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,897,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.1% during the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 403,618 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $45,653,000 after acquiring an additional 88,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $360,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $131.71 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $130.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $228.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.22, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

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.