Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Takes $223,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $114.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,632,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,553. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $115.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.37. The firm has a market cap of $197.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.00.

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.