Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Golden State Equity Partners

Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 543 shares during the quarter. Golden State Equity Partners’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers Inc. ID now owns 29,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,222,000 after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the period. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. KFA Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 7,193 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $792,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $801,000. Finally, First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 3,776 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of ABT traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,575,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.03. The firm has a market cap of $186.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.