Millstone Evans Group LLC Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,076 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,963,974,000 after acquiring an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after acquiring an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,940,321 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,463,680,000 after acquiring an additional 330,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,277,123 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,275,555,000 after purchasing an additional 174,919 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.5 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $126.18 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market cap of $218.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.86.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.