Delta Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.76 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 158 shares during the quarter. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 approximately $2,223,060. 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. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $105.21. 2,284,698 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,630,331. The company has a market cap of $182.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. 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 twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. 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 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 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.