Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by FFT Wealth Management LLC

FFT Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ABT opened at $136.03 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $235.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $136.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $121.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.