Procyon Advisors LLC Purchases 976 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $276,000. IFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 31,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 now owns 5,629 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $620,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,560 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,929 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,046,000 after buying an additional 5,835 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $113.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 453,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,664,881. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $197.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.37.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s 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 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.00.

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.