John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Has $3.41 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,974 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 130 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $2.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $107.28. 10,461,905 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,702,120. The stock has a market cap of $186.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories 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.