Waldron Private Wealth LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 22,842 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Folios Inc raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $127.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $221.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.