Clune & Associates LTD. Invests $1.65 Million in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Clune & Associates LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,541 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,645,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $635,056,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $135,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,018 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,144,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22,466.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,006,223 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $113,814,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001,764 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $126.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $128.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.94.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.