Austin Private Wealth LLC Purchases New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Austin Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,974 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 74,817,109 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,156,561,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,889 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,022,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,219 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,229,122,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.64. 5,278,016 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,747,185. The firm has a market cap of $197.19 billion, a PE ratio of 34.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $115.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.42.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

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.