Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,770 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,770 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $314,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the third quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. 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 note on Thursday, April 18th. 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 note on Monday. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.89. 5,050,066 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,719,627. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $113.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.97. The firm 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. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

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.