Xponance Inc. Acquires 17,809 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,906 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 17,809 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $25,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $131,000. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $96,257,000 after buying an additional 15,521 shares during the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% during the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.63 during trading on Thursday, hitting $105.27. 7,295,526 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,674,732. The company has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.31.

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.