Abbott Laboratories CEO Buys Stock in Company

Insider invests in 369,950 shares in 5 separate transactions

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Nov 15, 2016
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Miles White (Insider Trades), CEO and chairman of Abbott Laboratories (ABT), purchased 369,950 shares in the company in five transations on Nov. 10. The per share price ranged from $40.45 to $40.67.

Abbott Laboratories is a health care company that provides generic branded pharmaceuticals. The company has a market cap of $57.62 billion.

There were no insider buys in 2014 and 2015, and the most recent insider purchase of Abbott Laboratories was Director William Osborn’s (Insider Trades) buy of 10,000 shares for $33.86 per share in February 2013. Osborn’s trade has increased in value by nearly 20%.

The annual volume of insider sells increased from 2013 to 2015. There were 385,316 total Abbott Laboratories shares sold by insiders in 2013 and 636,219 shares sold by insiders in 2015. The increase in insider shares sold correlates to an increase in month-end price.

White purchased 1,101,450 shares of Abbott Laboratories in 10 transactions and sold 1,179,201 shares since 2013. All 10 of White’s insider buys since 2013 were conducted in 2016, but his four insider sells were spread out in the years leading up to 2016.

For more information about insider transactions since Abbott Laboratories, click here.

According to GuruFocus.com information, Abbott Laboratories has a business predictability rank of 1 out of 5 stars. For more information about business predictability rank, click here.

The company reported an increase in net sales of 2.9% from $5.150 billion to $5.302 billion in the third quarters of 2015 and 2016. Simultaneously, there was a 0.7% decrease in total operating costs from $4.437 billion to $4.405 billion. Net earnings, however, decreased from $580 million, or 54 cents per share, to net loss of $329 million, or -24 cents per share. White commented that the company’s “strong performance in Established Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices led [the company’s] sales growth this quarter” and that Abbott Laboratories is “on track to deliver the financial commitments” set at the beginning of the year.

Additionally, Japan’s approval of Abbott’s bioresorbable heart stent makes it the first commercially available product of its kind to treat patients with coronary artery disease in Japan.

Abbott also announced an agreement with St. Jude Medical Inc. (STJ, Financial) to sell certain products to Terumo Corp. The transaction is estimated to be $1.2 billion and is subject to the successful completion of Abbott’s acquisition of St. Jude Medical.

During the third quarter, Jeremy Grantham (Trades, Portfolio) increased his stake in Abbott Laboratories while Diamond Hill Capital (Trades, Portfolio) reduced its stake. Grantham purchased 165,114 shares for an average price of $42.85 per share, increasing his stake by 3.0%. In the previous quarter, Grantham purchased 632,054 shares of Abbott Laboratories at an average per share price of $39.80. The total estimated gain of the holding since the first quarter of 2011 is 44%.

Diamond Hill decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.78%, selling 92,889 shares during the third quarter. Diamond Hill increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories in each of the four quarters prior to the recently concluded third quarter. The total estimated gain of the holding since the first quarter of 2011 is 11%.

For more information about guru transactions with Abbott Laboratories, click here.

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