California Public Employees Retirement System Has $480.75 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,367,706 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 44,277 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.25% of Abbott Laboratories worth $480,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $107.07. 4,940,198 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,752,482. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $114.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.82. The company has a market cap of $185.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

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.