Provence Wealth Management Group Buys 1,081 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Provence Wealth Management Group grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 39.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,807 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $419,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 6,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $11,164,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 107,473 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $11,830,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 69.9% during the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 32,729 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,603,000 after buying an additional 13,461 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the 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 $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $105.90. 3,610,492 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. The business’s fifty day moving average is $112.52 and its 200 day moving average is $108.51. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.