Brooklyn FI LLC Acquires New Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,588 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,108,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $127.64 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $221.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

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.