Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by FourThought Financial Partners LLC

FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 136,690 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 391 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 1.9% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $15,046,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TCG Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. TCG Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,658 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,274,000 after buying an additional 1,687 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $174,000. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the period. Provence Wealth Management Group increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 3,807 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $105.90. 3,610,492 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $112.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.51.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.