Promus Capital LLC Invests $97,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 859 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,282 shares of company stock worth $3,263,348 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $137.68 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $124.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.42. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $238.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.19.

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.