Strata Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $412,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Strata Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,625 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $412,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,222,332,000 after acquiring an additional 701,740 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $16,764,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.91. 8,283,577 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,748,477. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.12.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Barclays dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories 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.