Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Boosted by Calamos Advisors LLC

Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 342,303 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $38,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was 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 available at this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $128.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $223.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $129.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $116.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

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.