Pollock Investment Advisors LLC Makes New $1.37 Million Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Pollock Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,075 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,366,000. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.1% of Pollock Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. one8zero8 LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $1,405,000. Choate Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 206,650 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $23,374,000 after buying an additional 28,114 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,592,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $180,135,000 after acquiring an additional 169,549 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 18,082 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 2,239 shares during the period. Finally, Harbour Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC now owns 28,375 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,209,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $127.02 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $127.16 and a 200-day moving average of $119.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. 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 has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.