Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 24,221 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,629 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 6,305 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $203,000. Absher Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 177,122 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $20,034,000 after buying an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,933 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,463,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 5,163 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $128.20 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $117.06 and a 200 day moving average of $114.83. The company has a market capitalization of $222.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

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.