Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Has $1.27 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,257 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 164 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,273,000 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. Capital Performance Advisors LLP increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 2,137 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Monument Capital Management increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,972 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,813,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Finally, MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,359,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.07. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABT. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.