6,993 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Bought by Miller Financial Services LLC

Miller Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 6,993 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $791,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Welch Group LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABT shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $137.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $238.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $125.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.