Disciplined Equity Management Inc. Invests $55,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Disciplined Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 500 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price target 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 issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $106.89. 5,050,066 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,719,627. 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 has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $185.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $113.90 and its 200-day moving average is $107.97.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.