Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by FFT Wealth Management LLC

FFT Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. FFT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. now owns 12,246 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 434,058 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $49,096,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 155,598 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,894 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 35.0% in the fourth quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 46,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 12,019 shares during the period. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $136.03 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $136.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $121.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.30. 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 stock has a market cap of $235.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.