Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Ghe LLC

Ghe LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,547 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 37,904 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 71,314 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,849,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $314,000. Wynn Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $366,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.89. 5,050,066 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,719,627. The stock has a market cap of $185.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.97.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly 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 business 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 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.