Main Street Research LLC Acquires 183 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Main Street Research LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Riverstone Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. First American Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 152,022 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $16,733,000 after buying an additional 52,899 shares in the last quarter. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC now owns 12,446 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 78,516 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,642,000 after buying an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $110.31. 3,943,151 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,540,460. 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 has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $191.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share 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 company 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 firm’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.